Visions of Bardock
by Sai the Super Saiyan
Summary: Set after the events of Second Chances. Bardock has just been released from isolation after being in there for seven months. When he, Fasha and Tora are sent back into the living world, Bardock accidently sets in motion a disaster that threatens the lives of his two sons... and the whole universe. Can also be read on Wattpad.
1. Chapter 1

I leaned against the wall of the punishment chamber with a sigh. It had been a long time since I'd been put in here, and I was looking forward to getting out of here… if Yemma ever decided to let me out. It had been a while – almost seven months – since I'd returned after breaking out of Hell. When I'd returned, Yemma had immediately caught me… and I'd been put in this stupid punishment room.

The door clanged then as it was pushed open, and I looked up to see an ogre standing at the door. He had orange flesh, and I frowned to myself. It was Goz, one of the ogres who were in charge of keeping a careful eye on us Saiyans. He grimaced at me as he motioned for me to follow. I breathed a sigh of relief and stepped out, only to face the massive form of the ogre king himself, Yemma. Yemma was a sight to behold, and I felt a little worried in his presence. How much trouble was I actually in?

King Yemma huffed. "You're allowed to return to your race. But be warned; if you pull a stunt like that again, you will be punished more severely," King Yemma said darkly, and I couldn't help but shiver. Even though I was a Super Saiyan, a small part of me continually warned me that I would never be able to fight King Yemma… unless I achieved what Kakarot before me had: a new level of Super Saiyan. While the idea appeased to me, there was one little problem. I had absolutely no idea _how_ to gain a new level. "You can go now," King Yemma said bitterly, interrupting my thoughts. I ducked my head and followed Goz back down to Hell.

As soon as my foot touched the dirt of Hell, I was approached by two Saiyans. I smiled as my long-time friends, Fasha and Tora, grinned at me, and Goz rolled his eyes as he walked away and left us three to ourselves.

"So, how bad was it?" Tora asked as we walked towards the Saiyan campsite. I sighed and told them about my seven months in isolation, and Tora whistled. "Oh wow. That's rough," he said as we walked through the make-shift gates of the camp, which marked this area as Saiyan territory. The guard inclined his head at us and eyed us, but he let us through without a problem. I cringed as I saw so many people; the only companion I'd had in isolation had been Toolo, the Kanassan consciousness that had invaded my mind the day he'd 'blessed' me with the Kanassan power of divination. Being around so many people was weird, now that I was used to being alone.

"Hey, Bardock!" I heard Shugesh, another of my teammates, yell as he and Borgos walked over and smiled. I smiled back slightly and looked at the various cuts and bruises both men had on their person. I frowned as I asked where they'd received the wounds, and Shugesh shrugged as he said, "Eh. That crazy kid gave them to us," and motioned at a now-calm Broly. I shivered. I disliked Broly, who was the same age as my youngest cub, Kakarot. Broly's unusually high power level at birth – 10,000 – marked him as the Legendary Super Saiyan, a Super Saiyan of immense power. It was also a transformation that no other Saiyan could achieve. They could dream though.

"What did you do to piss him off this time?" Fasha scowled as we walked over to our home, which was currently a tent. Families and teams usually stayed together, but Raditz had always preferred to stay alone. Shugesh shrugged as he told her that they'd done nothing. The female warrior rolled her eyes, and I snickered as we all sat down around a lit fireplace – apparently Fasha had lit it earlier – and Tora began to treat Shugesh's wounds while I treated Borgos.

"So, what have I missed?" I asked as I finished treating Borgos' wounds and placed the leftover materials back into the first aid kit. Fasha sighed as she looked over at Tora, who shrugged. I cocked my head to the side, confused. They were just as hard to read as my son. "C'mon, tell me!" I playfully teased, poking Tora in the shoulder. He looked away from me with a frown painted on his face, and I began to panic. Had something bad happened? Or were we finally getting our judgment passed? I began to panic. Getting our judgment passed meant we lost our bodies and were sent to the Soul Cleansing Machine, where we would begin anew. The thought that I would lose all knowledge of myself and my sons and my team frightened me.

"I heard something interesting from Mez a few days ago," Tora said, and my panic levels rose to even higher heights. I leaned forward as Tora took in a sharp intake of breath and said, "There were discussions about the rest of your punishment." I frowned.

"Haven't seven months in isolation been enough, or did I really break the rules?" I asked. My voice was bitter as I looked down at my feet. Fasha exhaled a sigh and put her hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently to comfort me. "So what's the verdict, guys?" I asked as I looked up and looked at my allies. I looked from Shugesh to Borgos, from Borgos to Fasha, and from Fasha to Tora. Tora's dark eyes were saddened, and I felt a surge of regret. I shouldn't have broken out of Hell. But I knew that, if I hadn't, Raditz would be back here. I shook my head as I stood. "Are any of you going to answer?" I asked, but before I could say anything else I was cut off as a swift punch was delivered to my jaw. I flew into my teammates, and they yelled as they caught me. I slumped in their arms, dazed.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Tora growled as I groaned and managed to pull myself to my feet, only to see Goz and Mez standing in front of us. Mez was grinning, and was just pulling his fist back. Clearly he was the one who'd punched me. I growled as I stood in front of him, defiantly. Tora looked up at me and frowned. "Bardock, what are you doing?" he asked. I grinned at him before turning back to Goz and Mez, my smile transforming into a terrifying scowl that had both ogres backing off in terror.

"I'm going to make you pay for that," I hissed. Goz and Mez looked at each other, but I made up my mind then. I jumped forward and slammed my fist into Goz's stomach, winding him and making him collapse to the ground, clutching his stomach as he smashed his knees against the dirty. Mez shouted for back-up as he pulled out his club from nowhere and tried to smack me with it, but I caught it and snapped the wooden log in two. Mez's eyes bugged out of his head as I threw the snapped club away and swiftly kicked Mez in the head. He was sent backwards from the force behind the kick, and he slammed into a tree before slumping to the ground, defeated. His eyes rolled back in his head, and his head hung limply to the side, but I could tell that he was still breathing.

"Holy crap, Bardock," Fasha whispered as more ogres ran up and surveyed the damage that I'd done. I looked over at my team and gave them a thumbs-up. Suddenly, a wooden club was swung at me, and I instinctively used my arm to block it. Looking at all of the ogres, I realised that soon I would have no choice but to transform… and I didn't really want to reveal that to my team just yet. Then I heard more yells, and I looked over the ogres to see Saiyans running over, clearly to investigate the disturbance to the camp. Among them was King Vegeta, and I tried to make them leave. "No!" Fasha screamed as she was grabbed and restrained. I turned around in shock as the rest of my teammates were grabbed and restrained in the same manner, but as I tried to run to them my tail was grabbed and yanked. Immediately, pain shot through me and I collapsed to my knees, weakened. Dammit. I should have made sure to train my weakness. I'd already semi-eliminated my second weakness – my Saiyan hunger – because of my 'ability' to eat rocks.

"Fasha! Tora! Shugesh! Borgos!" I screamed as the ogre that had hold of me released my tail and grabbed my arm. I desperately tried to reach for my teammates as they were dragged away, and Fasha and Tora reached out for me as Shugesh and Borgos struggled. And then I saw the ogres pull out wooden clubs and basically bludgeon my two struggling teammates. I heard a sickening snap, and Shugesh went limp. Then he disintegrated.

Dead people who got their bodies couldn't be killed, but they could be wiped from existence… which killed them permanently. Not even the magical artefacts Kakarot had used to wish Raditz back would work. Seeing Shugesh 'die' like that, my heart slowed. Everything around me stilled; the only thing that was moving fast was the beat of my racing heart.

"Shugesh!" I heard Fasha screamed as she struggled against her captors. Unfortunately, the ogres were far stronger than her, and they dragged her away. The Saiyans were chased away, and Tora was dragged away. Borgos stood his ground, but that ultimately ended with Borgos' fate being the same with Shugesh's. A scream pierced the air, and I realised after a few moments that it was my own. My arm was pulled then, trying to drag me away, but I was having none of it. I pulled against my captor, and tried to break free. But it didn't work, and I was dragged away from the Saiyans and my two surviving teammates.

I was dragged towards a set of stairs, but I didn't try to fight any more. I felt worn and exhausted, and I was horrified. My body was limp as they dragged me down the stairs and threw me to the ground. A chill washed over me, and I shivered as I finally willed myself to struggle to my feet. I saw the ogres walk back up the stairs, but I had no will to follow them. Instead, my feet gave out on me, and I collapsed onto my ass and looked down at the ground, dejected.

When I looked up next, I saw a short woman standing in front of me. I stared blankly at her for a few moments, before she said, "Follow me," and walked off. I shakily stood, using my tail for balance, and followed slowly. My feet seemed to drag with every step, and it felt as if it were made of lead. We walked in silence for a few minutes, and then I saw huge, towering chunks of ice. There seemed to be people trapped within the ice, and I realised in horror that they were all still alive, trapped eternally and unable to die. I gagged as I saw more torturous objects. Was I to be tortured here for all eternity after spending seven months all alone? The woman turned to me as another chill washed over me, and I hugged my torso tightly. "Do you know who I am?" the woman asked. I shook my head as my teeth began to chatter, and the woman smiled evilly. Her smile was tight-lipped and sour, and I shuddered. "My name is Enma." The name rang a bell then, and my eyes widened as I stumbled backwards.

"N-no…," I chattered as I shivered again. Enma laughed. The sound sounded like a witch's cackle, and it chilled me to the very core. Well, it would have if I wasn't already being frozen. "How long will I be here?" I dared ask, presuming the answer would be 'for all eternity.' Suddenly, my uncontrollable abilities activated, and it was as if I could see into Enma's mind. Thoughts – hers, not mine – flooded into my head, and I couldn't help but hear them babbling. One in particular, however, caught my attention, and I grabbed at it. When I'd read it, I looked up at Enma curiously. She seemed oblivious to my mind-reading, and I scowled. "What the fuck, Enma?" I asked. She cocked her head to the side, not understanding.

"Excuse me?"

"Why the heck did you call me here for?" I asked. Enma looked a bit surprised, but she quickly hid her surprise with a sour smirk. It looked as if she'd eaten a lemon of something…

"Well, you're full of surprises, aren't you, Son Bardock?" she said. Her voice – coupled with her use of my full name – made me shudder involuntarily. Enma shook her head. "We have a problem, and you seem to be the only one capable of dealing with it," she said. I scowled at her.

"You could have asked. You didn't have to bludgeon my teammates off the plain of existence," I snarled. Enma looked at me, her face unsympathetic. I made up my mind then: Enma was a bitchy old crone.

"They would not agree," she said, then called for another ogre and said, "Please bring down the remaining members of Bardock's Elite." The ogre nodded, and I looked at the old crone in surprise. How did she know my team's original name? I rolled my eyes as we waited for a few minutes. Then I heard a feminine yell as Fasha was thrown at my feet. Tora landed on top of her about ten seconds later, and I quickly helped both Saiyans to their feet. Fasha looked like she'd been crying, and she angrily looked down at Enma.

"Who the fuck are you?" she scowled. Tora and I grabbed one of Fasha's arms each in a gentle restraint, and she hissed at Enma, who looked quite taken aback. "Are you the fucking bitch who killed Shugesh and Borgos?" Never mind the fact that they'd already been dead, but Fasha was right on the money.

"Oh my! Such fire within one such as young as you!" Enma crowed, and I felt disgusted. Enma's eyes twinkled. "Good. You will need it," she said ominously. I swallowed my fear as Fasha straightened up. Tora scowled at the old bitch.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because you three are leaving Hell."


	2. Chapter 2

The sun shone down on my face, and I grimaced as I rolled over and covered my eyes. My eyes snapped open, however, when I realised that fresh, soft grass was tickling against my cheek, not the itchy grass that usually resided in Hell. I sat up blearily and rubbed my eyes as I looked around. I seemed to be somewhere other than Hell… maybe this was Heaven? No, it couldn't be; Saiyans – except for Kakarot and Tarble, King Vegeta's youngest son – were condemned to go to Hell for what we'd done, for all the populations and planets we'd wiped clean.

"Where am I?" I murmured as I stood. I looked around to see two other people, and I quickly roused both of them. Fasha yawned as she sat up, and Tora just looked drunk. I laughed at his dishevelled hair, usually nicely tied at the back of his neck. Suddenly, I noticed something, and I waved my hands spastically over their heads. No odd air currents above their heads marked their status. My eyes widened in wonder as I started waving my hands over my head. Tora and Fasha's eyes nearly bugged out of their heads as they saw what I was feeling. Looking excitedly over at them, I asked, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?!" They nodded, and I jumped into the air screaming with joy.

"We're alive?" Fasha wondered as she looked at her gloved hand. Tora and I were now jumping into the air, grinning from ear to ear, hand in hand. Suddenly, we stopped jumping up and down, only to pull Fasha into it. She squealed but joined in anyway, until all of us were exhausted and we all collapsed onto the grass, looking up at the sunlight. We lay there for a few minutes, in a comfortable silence, before my stomach decided to rumble. We all laughed as I sat up. "Well, let's go hunt for some food," she said as she stood and dusted herself off with her tail. Tora nodded as he stood and dusted himself off too. I couldn't be fucked dusting myself off.

"I can smell people," Tora said as he sniffed the air. Fasha and I nodded as we all flew into the air and floated into the cloud line. We saw a city quite close to where we'd been, but there was something amiss. I sniffed, smelling the acrid, burning odour of smoke, and I gagged as I saw a huge pillar of smoke rising from a segment of the city. I looked over at my teammates, who were covering their noses with their hands. They both had an expression of disgust on their faces. "We better go down and check," Tora said, his voice muffled by his hand. I nodded as I flew towards the city, Fasha and Tora following.

When we landed, the smell was the first thing that assaulted our nostrils. I gagged as I staggered and fell to my knees. Fasha and Tora gagged too as they fell to their knees next to me. My eyes watered as I looked up. The smoke stung my eyes, and I blinked away my tears as I struggled to my feet, pinching my nose in disgust. Fasha and Tora rose and looked around as well.

"This is horrible and disgusting…," Fasha hissed as she gagged again. I nodded as I picked up a pair of shattered reading glasses, and I sighed. Tora looked at the glasses in my hand with a frown. I ran my finger over the cracked lens, sadness welling up in me. Seeing this tiny pair of glasses reminded me, for some reason, of my sons. I didn't know why. "Bardock!" Fasha suddenly hissed, and I looked up, but it was my ears that detected danger first. I heard footsteps, marching towards us, and I ducked behind a crumbling wall. Tora dashed around a corner, and Fasha was small enough to crawl under a pile of rubble. We all held our breath and waited silently. I heard the marching coming closer and closer… and then it stopped. I dared not look.

_Dammit_, I cursed to myself. _Why won't these stupid powers work?_ But then, as if I could control them, my telepathy activated and I found myself looking at Tora's thoughts. Worry coursed through me as I realised that he could see the squad… and they were apparently standing right in front of my hiding spot. I swallowed my fear. If they decided to search the area, Tora and I would surely been found. Fasha may have had a chance to escape, but there was still the chance that she would be caught. I grimaced as I turned away. _I have to get away. Fuck, this is bad._

"All traces of population have been eliminated," I heard at least one hundred voices say as one, and I leaned against the wall. If the soldiers weren't too strong, I knew I'd easily be able to take them out. After all, I had ploughed through _thousands_ of Frieza's soldiers on the day of Planet Vegeta's destruction. But if these men were a lot stronger than Frieza, I had no chance to defeat them. I couldn't beat Frieza… but I could beat Chilled, Frieza's ancestors.

"Very good, men," someone said, and I stopped breathing as I realised that the voice was female. I still didn't dare move or look, but I listened very carefully as the commander said, "Now, we move to one of the other cities. There's one close by, to the west…" She trailed off as I stepped out of my hiding place, deliberately revealing myself to her. Toolo's 'blessing' wasn't working anymore, so I had no way of knowing what she was thinking. However, I knew that Tora and Fasha would be both angry and worried. "Who are you?" she asked me, her eyes twinkling with fury, but there was also something else in there – lust. I was good-looking, considering my age, but I never really thought much of it, especially not since my apparent calling in life involved mass genocide.

"My name is Bardock," I said bluntly. The woman licked her lips as her squad stood silently back. She walked over to me and placed a finger on my chest, and I couldn't help but notice that her fingernails were perfectly manicured. They were also white, which contrasted with the violet of her skin. Her white hair gleamed as it fell around her face in a short pixie cut. I felt myself immediately take a dislike to her, and I swatted her hand away and growled, "Don't touch me." She looked taken aback, but not for very long. Her face twisted into a scowl, and she turned her back from me and haughtily strode over to her squadron before pausing, turning her head slightly and staring at me. Her eyes – a mysterious red – gleamed with fury.

"You dare speak to me… AGH!" the girl screamed as I blew a hole into her stomach, my lip curled as I dropped my hand. The soldiers all stared as their commander collapsed to the ground, dead, and then they looked back at up my, their eyes bugging out of their heads. I smiled smugly at them as I stepped forward, but the soldiers didn't move. It was clear that they didn't know what to do once their commanding officer was dead.

"Boo," I said as I pointed my hand at them. Disregarding their orders to stand still, the soldiers fled in all different directions, and I laughed as Fasha poked her head out of the pile of rubble she was hiding under and fixed me with a fierce look. Tora walked out from his hiding place as Fasha stood up.

"What the fuck have you done?" she said. I stared at her, shocked. Her words had been so biting! I shook my head.

"I don't know, you tell me," I said, confused. Fasha looked at me with an incredulous expression on her face. I felt like an idiot. I sighed. "Fasha, what have I done?" I said. Fasha shook her head and she sighed and shut her eyes. When she opened them, her violet eyes were blazing.

"Bardock, that woman you killed was part of a dying race," she said. I frowned. "She was the last member of their royal family." My heart stopped. I'd killed a royal, and I'd let all of those soldiers escape. They must have told their superiors of the woman's death already. I began to sweat as the panic set in. Fasha shook her head at me as we all looked up, only to see a jet black battleship fly into the sky. Blue fluorescent tubing glowed along the battleship's sides, and then it disappeared.

"So what are those things, anyway?" Tora asked Fasha, and she sighed.

"Nobody really knows, not even them. But I do know this; they are just as fierce – probably worse – than the Saiyans. Bardock," Fasha turned to me as her eyes flashed, "You have successfully managed to piss of an entire race of warriors."

"Well shit," I said, shrugging. Fasha and Tora glared at me, and I looked at them. "What? They can't do anything," I said as I sat down on a chunk of rock. Fasha then decided to tell me that they were telepathic, and had probably read my mind. I stared at her. "You choose _now_ to tell me," I hissed. Fasha nodded and smiled innocently, but the dark look in her eyes marred the innocence. I stood up abruptly. "They could already know of my sons! Raditz and Kakarot could be in danger!" I hissed as I leaned towards Fasha. She took a few steps backwards, terrified. Tora grabbed my shoulder then, his expression worried, and I glared at him from the corners of my eyes.

"Bardock… we need to leave. Now."


	3. Chapter 3

"Great, just great," I moaned as I sat against the wall of the aircraft hangar we were inside. Fasha and Tora looked sadly at me, not sure what to do. We'd spent a few hours looking in the destroyed city for any way off of this planet, but the one spacecraft we'd found was in no working condition, and it was in such a state of disrepair that it was irreparable. I looked up at Tora and Fasha, who were looking back at the mangled ship, and asked, "So what now?"

"Those creatures – they're known as the Marauders to most seeing as nobody knows what they really are – decimated this city… but I have a feeling that they left before they could wipe the entire planet of its populace," Fasha said, shaking her head. I nodded as I stood and dusted myself off. Tora sighed as Fasha walked out of the hangar's door, and followed. After a few moments of hesitation, I followed too, and saw that she was floating in the sky, looking around. "I can't see a thing with this smoke," Fasha said as she landed and coughed.

I nodded. "The smoke burns my eyes and throat… Does it do that to you two?" I asked, looking at my two friends. Fasha nodded as she continued to cough, and Tora nodded as he rubbed his eyes. I nodded as I looked around and blinked back tears as my eyes started to burn. "We need to get above this acrid shit," I coughed as I flew into the air. Fasha and Tora followed me as I flew higher and higher, until it started to become difficult to breathe. I stopped as soon as my eyes stopped stinging, and I looked around. I saw villages in the distance, some in the same state as the city, but there was a largish one that looked to be alright. I could see a aircraft hangar, and I pointed it out to my teammates as I said, "Maybe they have a ship we can use to chase the Marauders."

"Yeah… we better ask," Tora said as we all flew towards the village. We landed just on the outskirts before walking over to the wooden gates. Almost immediately, we had lances with tips crackling with electricity pointed at our throats, backs and chests. I looked at the guards to see that they looked like a human, but their eyes were a lot creepier. They had coloured whites, and their pupils were cat-like.

"Who goes there?" One of them said, and I looked over to see a red-eyed one staring right at me. I turned slowly so that I was facing him.

"My name is Son Bardock. These are my friends, Fasha and Tora," I said. The red-eyed alien scrutinised me before clicking his tongue. He then asked me how we'd gotten here. I frowned, not sure how to answer. "Uh… well, we woke up here. We don't know how we ended up here," I said after deciding to answer truthfully. The aliens all looked at each other before another one stepped forward. Immediately, I saw that it was a woman.

"You're not in league with the Marauders, are you?" she asked as her eyes narrowed. I shook my head. The woman looked sceptical, but didn't respond right away. "How can we be certain?" she asked when she did respond. This time, Fasha responded.

"Bardock here killed their princess," she said, her voice sounding slightly off. The woman picked up on the tone in Fasha's voice and pointed her lance at my friend. Tora panicked a bit, but I warned him not to do anything rash with my eyes. He nodded – a slight movement that only I saw – and bit his lip.

"What did you say?" the woman asked. Fasha looked her dead in the eye and repeated her words, adding that I'd let the soldiers escape. The woman gasped as she looked at me, and I shrugged. "You fool! If they were with one of their Councilmen, then…," the woman trailed off and bit her lip before looking back at her soldiers.

"I know. The Councilmen are telepathic," I said, surprising the woman. I shook my head. "Which is why we need to get off this planet."

"What do you mean?" the woman asked.

"The Marauders left the planet earlier, and I think that they're heading towards a planet called Earth. I have two children there, and one of them has children of his own." The woman stayed silent as I spoke, and frowned.

"How old are your children and grandchildren?" she asked uncertainly. I sighed.

"I don't know," I admitted sheepishly. The woman sighed and ordered her men to lower their weapons. Tora, Fasha and I slowly became more relaxed. The woman suddenly took of her helmet to reveal long blue hair, tied in a ponytail, and her eyes were a deep green.

"We'll take you to the hangar. My name is Raven, and I am the leader of this town," she said before turning on her heel and walking into the town, beckoning for us to follow. We did, and as Raven led us through the small village I saw that most of them weren't Raven's kind. There were many different people around, including a few Changelings. I shot evil looks at any Changeling that looked in our direction; Frieza's race was evil and didn't deserve to exist, in my eyes.

When we got to the hangar, Tora whistled in awe. It was much bigger than it appeared, and there were many spacecraft that were operable. Raven walked over to a sleek battleship and opened a hatch on the side. It appeared to be able to fit plenty of people in it, and as Raven stepped out she motioned for us to come over. She placed her hand on the side of it and smiled.

"This is a ship that was floating around in space. My father picked it up, and I repaired it," she said. I walked over to it and surveyed it. "I'm giving it to you," she said. I stopped in my tracks and looked at her, confused.

"Why?" Tora asked as he walked over. Raven sighed.

"Here's the thing: we don't use it. We have no use for battleships, especially since most of our warriors are located in the cities. The villages rely on the cities for protection, but…," Raven trailed off and shook her head before continuing, "I don't see the point. Anyway, if you're intending to challenge the Marauders, this battleship will come in handy." Raven smiled at us, and I couldn't help but smile back. She departed then, and we three Saiyans stepped into the battleship. The interior was nice and cosy, and vaguely reminded me of our original home planet, where Tora, Fasha and I had lived until we were all six.

"Isn't this an ancient Saiyan battleship?" Tora wondered as we all looked at it. Fasha nodded.

"Yeah… It is. But it's been refurbished and outfitted with state-of-the-art battle armaments," she said, her eyes sparkling. I laughed as I walked over to the control panel and saw that it was operational. The words and instructions for launch were written in the Saiyan language, and I grinned as I sat in the pilot seat. Tora and Fasha sat in the seats next to me and we all strapped ourselves in with the harnesses. I wrapped my left hand around the control stick and pressed a command code in with my right hand. The ship started to rumble as the boosters were engaged, and then we started to fly into the air. The hangar bay's roof slid open, and I looked out of the windshield to see Raven standing on a raised platform. She was smiling at us, and I smiled back down as I pushed a lever forward and initiated the thrusters. The ship shot off, and we departed from the planet.

"Woah… that was fast!" Tora said breathlessly as we slowed a bit once we were out of the planet's atmosphere. I laughed as I pulled up a star-chart and typed in Earth's co-ordinates. My expression grew more and more incredulous as the star-chart zoomed out of the system we were in, to show the galaxy, and it zoomed out of that to show the four galaxies. It finally pinpointed Earth in the North Galaxy, and I stared as I saw that we were located in the South Galaxy, at the farthest point away from Earth's location.

"Fuck," I groaned as my head slumped. Fasha put her hand on my shoulder, and I looked over at her to see that she was smiling. "Why are you smiling? The Marauders have a headstart! They'll reach Earth before us…" I shook my head and looked away from the Saiyan woman.

"Let's get going. This battleship, at full throttle, can clearly fly very fast. I'm willing to bet that we can catch up," she said. I realised the truth behind her words and sighed as I pushed on the thrust lever. We shot off at high speed, and soon the planet we'd left was nothing more than a glimmer in the night sky behind us.

"So now what?" I asked my teammates as we flew through the various solar systems. We were careful to avoid large astral bodies, like stars and black holes, because I knew that our progress would be slowed. I heard Tora laugh, and out of the corner of my eye I saw him stretching and relaxing. Fasha was also relaxed, and they both looked over at me.

"Now we wait until we reach the Marauder's ship."


	4. Chapter 4

_The Marauders marched through the cities of Earth, evil smiles on their faces, their eyes twinkling with gleeful malice, as they destroyed the numerous buildings. People screamed as they tried to run, but Marauders killed them slowly, painfully. I tried to scream, to warn them, but for some reason I couldn't. I realised then that this was another of my visions. Desperately, I tried to pull myself out of it, but to no avail._

_Then I saw Raditz and Kakarot, standing beside their prince – no, our prince – as the last barricade of defence for the Earthlings. I tried to call out for them, to tell them that the Marauders would kill them all, but they couldn't hear me. As one, the three full-blooded Saiyans jumped forward. Their hair lit up with a glorious golden glow, and I frowned. When I'd left… Raditz hadn't been a Super Saiyan. But it seemed that he was now. One of the Marauders looked up as he was socked in the chin by my angry, long-haired son, and I felt a pang of glee as I saw the soldier's neck snap._

_"Kakarot, Raditz, we can't keep doing this! They just keep coming!" Vegeta cried as he fended off at least ten Marauders. I realised then that the Marauders, while weak individually, could definitely give a Super Saiyan problems, especially in such a large group._

_"Yeah… ARGH!" Raditz screamed as one of the Marauders stabbed him in the arm with a blade. I panicked as Raditz clutched his arm, but he didn't try to fight back. I knew Raditz was smarter than that. He proved it to me then as he fell back until he was with the Z-Fighters again. His long black hair was even more of a mess than it usually was, and I could see that there was a large cut running down his arm._

_"We can't keep fighting like this…," Kakarot gasped as he punched one Marauder in the stomach and kicked another in the head. He jumped backwards, so that he was back-to-back with Raditz. I saw Vegeta blast one of the Marauders, but the ki harmlessly bounced off of the soldier's black armour…_

_And then the world vanished._

_I panicked. What the hell had happened? This had never happened in any of my visions before… and then it started. The pain. In the world of darkness, pain like I'd never felt before seemed to permeate my body. I fell to my knees and clutched the side of my head. The pain intensified, and I screamed as I tried to fight it._

_"H-help m-me…," I whispered into the darkness, knowing that I wouldn't get a response. "P-please… h-help m-me…!" I cried as the pain began to intensify again. Soon it would get beyond the bearable limits… as it was already doing. I screamed again as my pain threshold was breached, and I began to feel breathless. "S-stop it… STOP IT!" I screamed as I went Super Saiyan. The pain only got much worse, and I screamed._

_"Bardock!_" _I heard someone say, and I opened my teal eyes to see a ghostly figure standing in front of me. Her long hair was like Raditz's, and she wore a stylised version of the armour all Saiyans wore. I reached out to her with my hand, and she took it as she smiled. "Hello, Bardock," she said to me._

_"H-hanasia…"_

_And then, I blacked out._


	5. Chapter 5

"Bardock, wake up!" Fasha screamed at me as my eyes snapped open. I was drenched in sweat, and I was shaking like an earthquake. I saw Tora and Fasha leaning over me, their eyes filled with worry, and Fasha asked, "Bardock, what was that?" I shook my head, not completely in this world. A part of me was still in that world of nothingness, still blacked out. A slap from Tora, however, soon put that right, and Fasha tried again. "Are you okay?" she asked. I nodded slightly, but there was no doubt in my mind that both of my friends could tell that I was lying.

"What happened to you?" Tora asked as he knelt down next to me. Fasha put her hand comfortingly on my shoulder. I frowned and looked out of the window of the spaceship. What had happened? Every single day in my life, I'd barely spared a thought for my dear mate Hanasia… So why was I thinking of her now? I shook my head and looked back down at Tora.

"I… had a vision… I think," I said. Tora frowned.

"You think?" he asked. I nodded and frowned as we all fell back into silence. Then he said, "Bardock… are you going crazy finally?" he asked. I stared at him, shocked that he'd suggested that. But… maybe, just maybe… I was. I mean, there was no explanation for that world of darkness and seeing Hanasia's ghost again… Suddenly, the ship was knocked off course. A beam smashed into the wing and sent us spiralling into the atmosphere of a nearby planet. The interior went red and an alarm started to blare. I fell off of my chair and smashed my coccyx onto the ground. As I struggled to my feet, I saw a black ship with blue fluorescent tubing running up the sides. It turned around and disappeared then as we plummeted towards the planet…

"Fuck!" I screamed. Fasha suddenly hugged Tora tightly – much to my amusement and Tora's embarrassment – as I quickly pressed in random command codes. It didn't work. The nose of the ship began to rise into the sky, and I began to panic. _Keep calm, Bardock,_ I sternly reprimanded myself as I sat in the pilot's seat. "Dammit!" I screamed as I continually tried to level the ship out, but to no avail. "Tora! Fasha! Prepare for landing!" I screamed. Tora and Fasha scrambled for something to grab, and I jumped out of my seat as the ship slammed into the ground. There was a shattering of glass, and I heard a scream, but I couldn't discern who it was. The ship slid across the ground, and then, with a jolt, the ship came to a halt. I flew out of the broken window and slammed into the ground, before rolling to a stop.

"Bardock?!" I heard Tora scream, and then I heard the crunch of boots on sand. I groaned as Tora helped me up, and I looked up only to get blinded. I squinted as I staggered, and I heard Tora ask me, "You okay, mate?" I nodded as I looked around at the planet. I grimaced as I saw nothing but rocks and cracked ground. No water, and there didn't seem to be any food. That wasn't really a problem for me – rocks were surprisingly good sustenance – but Tora and Fasha couldn't eat rocks…

"Far out… where are we?" Fasha asked as she shielded her eyes from the harsh sunlight. I shook my head and shrugged, and Tora sighed. Fasha huffed. "I feel like I'm breathing with one lung… anyone else?" she asked, looking at us two. Now that she'd mentioned it, it was difficult to breathe. I looked around and frowned, wondering why.

"We better find water…," Tora murmured as he walked off. Fasha followed him, and I was just about to when something told me to turn around. I did, and I sucked in air as I saw Hanasia there, a smirk on her face. I tried to take a step towards her, but my boots felt as if they weighed ten million tonnes, and I couldn't move. And then… she disappeared. I blinked a few times, trying to realise what I'd just seen. Was I going insane? I didn't know. Maybe it was this stupid divination… Maybe it was Toolo inflicting mental torment on me in the form of my wife's illusion.

"Stop it," I whispered as I collapsed to my knees. Hanasia began to move closer. "Stop. Please, stop this," I begged in a small voice as she sat down in front of me. I looked up at her. She still had that smirk on her face, but deep within her dark eyes, I saw something that really bothered me. "Please stop," I whispered as she put her hand on my shoulder. Her hand was so cold, and it hurt. I cried out.

"Bardock?" Fasha said, and Hanasia disappeared. I looked up shakily to see Fasha and Tora standing over me, curious and worried expressions on their faces. I tried to say something to tell them that I was fine, but no words would come from my mouth. "Bardock… C'mon, let's go," Fasha said softly as she helped me to my feet. I was shaking wildly, and I felt like crying. I was a Saiyan; I shouldn't have the urge to cry. Yet… yet I did.

We walked slowly across the vast rocky wastes of the planet. Fasha and Tora were supporting me, and my feet dragged against the rock. I just couldn't function properly. Tora sighed, but to me it was barely audible.

"Bardock's not in a very good condition," I heard Tora say to Fasha. I heard her grunt in response, and I tried to say something, but nothing came out. Tora and Fasha didn't notice. "Hm… maybe Raditz could help him," Tora said as I felt him sit me down. I leaned against the rock wall he'd leaned me on as he sat down in front of me. Fasha sat beside him, and they both surveyed me for a bit before Tora sighed and shook his head. "This is crazy! Bardock… he's always been collected. And now… now he's just… I don't know." I didn't know either.

"Tora… Fasha… stop worrying. It's nothing, just…," I trailed off as my two teammates looked over at me, then shook my head and said, "It's nothing." Fasha and Tora didn't appear to believe me, but they didn't say anything. Instead, Tora yawned.

"I'm gonna take a nap," he said as he flopped onto the ground. Within moments, he was snoring, and I shook my head as Fasha smiled and lay down next to Tora. As she fell into deep sleep, I looked at them and smiled. They were such a cute couple, and I grinned as I remembered what had happened the last time I'd said that to their faces. They'd almost killed me… and poor Raditz had had to deal with the aftermath. Namely helping me up, as I'd been lying on the floor groaning with everything around me completely smashed. He'd at least had the decency to treat my cuts before he'd cleaned everything else up.

"Huh?" I suddenly looked around, my dark eyes flashing as I heard a scratching noise. Small pebbles were raining down from a segment of the rock face about three metres away, and I looked up to see someone sitting on the rock face, looking down at me. His red eyes flashed as they met with my black ones. He was small and had white skin, and the domes on his body were a deep chestnut colour. I noticed that he had a small point on the top of his head, making him seem like he had a funny colour chestnut as a head. "Who are you?" I demanded as I stood up and looked at him. My tail swished gently, and I saw his eyes narrow as he saw it.

"You're a Saiyan?" he asked as he suddenly jumped down and landed in front of me. I saw that he looked a bit like Frieza, and I grimaced. Great. Yet another Changeling.

"So what?" I growled. The little Changeling seemed to grimace as he looked away.

"You're not the Saiyan I'm looking for," he whispered. If I hadn't been listening closely, I would have missed what he'd said. I couldn't believe it. He was looking for a Saiyan?

"Why the hell are you looking for a Saiyan?" I asked angrily. I would protect my fellow Saiyans… or the few that were left, anyway. I grimaced. There was absolutely _no way_ I would let another fucking Changeling control or kill any more Saiyans. The little Changeling looked at me and sighed, looking bored.

"Because he killed my father." The words seemed a bit odd, because I only knew of one Changeling destroyed at Saiyan hands, and… My eyes widened as I realised what the little Changeling had meant.

"You're… Frieza's… son?" I stuttered out. The little Changeling nodded, still seeming bored.

"Yes. Why?" he asked, his bored expression changing to a curious one as he looked at me and cocked his chestnut-shaped head to the side. I was shaking uncontrollably, and I had the urge to punch the Changeling standing in front of me. I balled my fists tightly in an effort to fight that urge, and my fingernails cut into my skin, drawing blood.

"Because… he was the one who… annexed our people… He's evil!" I scowled, my voice scathing. The little Changeling seemed taken aback. I turned my head away from him, until I felt a sharp poke to my arm. I looked down just as his tail snaked back to him, and I looked up to see that he was frowning. "What?" I said bitterly.

"Was my father really that evil? I… I was told that he was trying to bring peace to the world…," the little Changeling pouted as he looked away. I sighed. Maybe I'd misunderstood this child. He didn't seem to be evil. If anything, he was angry and confused. Angry of the death of his father, yet confused of the conflict of information between what he'd always known and what I'd just told him. I stepped towards him, trying to be non-threatening, but as he looked up at my approach I saw a glimmer of fear appear in his eyes before he stepped back.

"Wait! I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you." Why the heck was I apologising to a Changeling? "What's your name?" I found myself asking. My mental voice – my own, not Toolo's – was screaming at me, asking me what the fuck I was doing. But I ignored it.

"Kuriza. My name is Kuriza," he said, his voice sounding semi-confident. I smiled.

"I'm Bardock, and my friends," I gestured at their sleeping forms, "are called Tora and Fasha," I said, pointing at each of them in turn. Kuriza nodded, and then looked up into the sky.

Abruptly changing the topic, he asked, "Did you crash-land here?" he asked.

"Uh… sorta. We were attacked," I said. Kuriza looked up at me.

"By what?" he asked curiously. I didn't want to tell him; I had a feeling that these Marauders were _worse_ than the Changelings. But I sucked in a deep breath as I steeled myself to tell him.

"Have you ever heard of the Marauders?" I asked. Kuriza nodded, and I had a feeling that if he wasn't naturally white, he would have been just then. I sighed. "I killed their princess on another planet… and now they're going after my children. They attacked us as we were following them… but I'm not sure how we missed them," I said and frowned. Kuriza, however, provided me with an explanation.

"Um… I heard from my uncle, Cooler, that the Marauders can make their ships become invisible," he said. I stared. The information about the Marauders turning their ships invisible wasn't too much of a shock – it was actually plausible – but I was a bit shocked that Frieza had a brother… or was it Kuriza's mother's brother? When I asked, Kuriza ducked his head. "Yes… Father had an older brother, who was also working for the Planet Trade Organisation. They're both dead…," he said.

"Wait a minute. Why was Frieza's older brother working for him?" I asked.

"Uh… Uncle Cooler wasn't working for Father."

"Excuse me?" I asked breathlessly. Kuriza rolled his eyes.

"Uncle Cooler worked for Grandfather." He shook his head. "Didn't you work for the Planet Trade Organisation?"

"Yeah, but I always thought…" I trailed off then and shook my head. Changing the topic, I said, "Hey, do you know where we can get another ship?" If I couldn't get a repairman, I would need a replacement for the battleship.

"I can get you another spaceship, but…" he trailed off, and I realised that there was a catch. I decided to just go with it; I needed that spaceship or else I would never be able to warn Kakarot and Raditz.

"Yeah?" I asked. Kuriza looked up at me, and fixed my onyx eyes with his blood-red ones.

"I want to come with you."


	6. Chapter 6

"Bardock, you've got to be kidding," Tora said as we all sat around the fire. I'd explained the situation to my friends as they'd awoken, and Kuriza was currently drawing pictures in the dirt with a dead tree branch. I scowled at Tora. How dare he question my decisions? But, I supposed that he did have a good point. Kuriza, after all, was Frieza's son, and I still didn't know if I could entirely trust him. But he was the best shot we had to get off of this gods forsaken rock.

"He's the best chance we have," I said harshly. Fasha didn't seem particularly bothered by that – she only hated Frieza because of the annexation, she didn't have a problem with the rest – but Tora was being annoyingly disagreeable. My face softened as my best friend turned away angrily. "Tora, listen to me. We _need_ to get off of this planet, and the battleship… It's not operable." Tora, realising the truth of my words, slumped in defeat, and I stood and walked over to him, placing my hand on his shoulder as I squatted down next to him. Fasha was trying to get Kuriza to tell her more about himself, but he wasn't sure what to say.

"Yeah, but… He's related to, y'know…" Tora looked over at Kuriza, who'd finally worked out what to tell Fasha, before looking up at me. "Bardock…"

"He's actually more filled with anger and confusion than evil. He's not a bad kid; he's just got a bad dad," I said. It was strange. If you'd asked me years ago if I'd ever defend a Changeling, I would have punched your lights out. But not today. I was standing up for little Kuriza. Maybe it was because he reminded me of a younger Raditz. I considered myself to be a shitty father, but I'd heard once from Raditz that I was just doing what I needed to do to stay alive. Self-preservation.

"Fine. I trust you. But if he turns on us… you're being held responsible," Tora said, looking up at me. I nodded as we stood. Fasha, after looking up at us, stood as well, and Kuriza followed suit. I smiled down at the little Changeling, and he nodded. Walking across the sands, he appeared to be headed in the opposite direction of our battleship, and we followed along diligently.

It took us a few hours to trek across the planet, but we finally reached a ship. It didn't look like the normal Organisation ships, and I began to wonder if those disc-like ships were only Planet Trade ships. I shrugged as I shoved the thought into the back of my mind.

"So what's this?" I asked. Kuriza smiled as he pressed a button, and the ship's door opened.

"This is a ship I found a few months ago," he said, frowning. "It's Changeling in design, but… there's something that they didn't like about it. I can't tell what it is, though." Kuriza shrugged as we all stepped into the ship, and the door closed behind us. It was larger than the battleship we'd used to get here, and I whistled in appreciation. Kuriza started to walk through the corridors, and we hurried after him. He was a quick walker, I'd give him that; we nearly lost him a few times if it weren't for the fact that he stopped occasionally and allowed us to catch up to him.

"Holy shit…," I breathed as we reached the main control panel. It was so big and complex, and as I looked down at Kuriza, I realised that he probably hadn't used this ship to get here. Maybe he'd been here on this planet. "Hey, Kuriza, how long have you been here?" I asked. Kuriza looked up at me, shocked by the question.

"Uh… well, yesterday was the three year mark," he admitted. Fasha, Tora and I looked at each other, and I felt a pang of sympathy for the young Changeling. He'd been here, possibly alone, for three long years on this planet.

"That's a long time to be alone," Fasha said to Kuriza. He shrugged.

"It doesn't matter to me." Horror rose within me. I couldn't believe that a child like Kuriza had just said that. Even though his father was Frieza, Kuriza shouldn't have been left all alone like that… Almost as if he could read my mind, Kuriza looked at me and smiled as he said, "Don't let it bother you. I had company for the first two years," he said.

"What happened to your companion?" Tora asked. Kuriza looked over a skull that was sitting on the desk. It was indiscernible what it was. It looked human enough, but no human would have survived two years out here. This planet was just too harsh for humans. From what I'd heard while staying with Raditz – when he'd been recovering – humans couldn't go three days without water.

"I had to kill him," Kuriza said, sounding miserable.

"W-why?" Fasha gulped. Kuriza shook his head.

"I… I didn't know then… but a year ago, one of my people got in contact with me and warned me about the Marauders. My father had warned me about them once before, but…," Kuriza trailed off and bit his lip. I realised what he wasn't saying. "My companion was a Marauder. His purple skin and red eyes… I'm not sure why I didn't realise sooner."

"Why the fuck were you travelling with a Marauder?!" I hissed as Kuriza walked over to the ship's command panel and typed in a command code. The ship began to hum as the engines began to work, and I sighed as I sat in a chair next to the chair Kuriza jumped up into. Fasha sat next to Kuriza, and Tora sat next to me. Kuriza had been silent, so I rolled my eyes and tried to make my voice gentler as I asked, "Why were you travelling with a Marauder?"

Kuriza looked up at me, his red eyes flashing with concern. "Because he needed my help." His words confused us all, and Kuriza sighed as he launched into an explanation with no prompt needed. "I'd been exploring this planet for a few months. During my exploration, I came upon a small fighter ship. It was black and had fluorescent tubing running down its side, and it looked damaged. When I approached, the glass hatch opened, and out spilled a young, purple-skinned boy with vibrant red eyes and white hair. His hair was dishevelled and his eyes were wide with fear," Kuriza paused, and I nodded at him, telling him that it was alright to continue. Kuriza swallowed. "He had numerous cuts on his body… and I only saw his arms and face. He told me that someone was coming for him. He told me that he needed to escape. He didn't tell me who was chasing him, or why he needed to escape, but I helped him."

"That poor boy…" Fasha murmured.

"And… and then… then I found out. My newfound friend was the young prince of the Marauders, and was to become king at his delicate age. His sister wasn't allowed to be queen until he was dead, and… and…," Kuriza trailed off. I frowned, and then my telepathy activated. I saw a picture painted in his mind. Blood. Horror. Fear. Darkness. It was horrible, but for some reason, my telepathy locked me in Kuriza's mind as he continued. "He turned on me after I'd received a communication from my people. He was afraid that I'd sold him off to the Marauders. He attacked me, and I had no choice…" I saw in Kuriza's mind what he'd done. "I stabbed him through with my tail."

"Couldn't you have convinced him otherwise?" Tora said, looking a bit sick. Kuriza shook his head as he pressed in a command code. We all fell into silence as the ship began to take off, and finally my telepathy shut off. I gasped as it did so, and leaned back against the chair as I did so. I was sweating crazily, and for some reason I felt like crying. "Hey, Bardock, is there…"

"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" I screamed as I stood and walked out. I stormed down the corridor, but my anger soon left me and was replaced with despair. I collapsed onto my knees and palms, and for some reason I just broke down. I began to cry, softly at first, but soon my body was being wracked by sobs. Why me?! Why the fuck had I been cursed with this stupid Kanassan power? Why the fuck was I the one going insane? Sure, I didn't wish this on anyone else, but I sure as fucking hell didn't want it… 'WHY?" I screamed at the air. "WHY ME?! WHY THE FUCK DID YOU DO THIS TO ME?!" I screamed until I was broken off by my sobs. I slammed my fist into the ground, and continued to do this until my knuckles split open and blood splashed onto the floor.

My energy deserted me then, and I fell onto my side, gasping for breath and sobbing tearlessly. I curled into a ball and just stayed there. I didn't want to move.

I just wanted to die.


	7. Chapter 7

I awoke to see that I was lying in a bed. My armour was sitting on a table next to me, along with my arm and leg warmers, and my headband. My boots were sitting underneath the table. I sat up and looked at my hands. My right hand was bandaged, and I frowned as I looked down at it. I couldn't remember the events of last night, but I did remember Kuriza telling us about the Marauder prince. I frowned as I pushed the blanket off me and stood up. I looked outside of the small, circular glass panel that served as my window, and sighed as I realised that we were still in the depths of space.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" I heard someone say, and I turned around to find Fasha standing there with a medical kit. I eyed it carefully as I nodded, and she laughed. "Don't worry, there are no needles in this," she said. I breathed a sigh of relief. I hated needles, and it was a trait that had passed onto my two kids. It hadn't, however, passed onto Kakarot's children, for which I was grateful.

"What happened last night?" I asked as I sat down on the bed. Fasha opened the medical kit and pulled out a fresh roll of bandages, and started to take the soiled bandages from my hand. I gasped as I saw that the skin was stitched together, and I really began to wonder what the heck I'd done last night. "Did I like, punch the floor or something?" I asked as Fasha silently began to re-wrap my hand. She didn't respond right away, but when she did, she sighed and looked into my eyes.

"We don't know what happened last night. But there was blood on the floor and you were crying," she said. I stared. I rarely cried; I was Saiyan! I didn't cry! But of late, I'd been crying a lot. I could vaguely remember crying while in isolation, but I didn't really know why.

I took a deep breath. "Fasha…" I stopped, not sure what I was going to say. Fasha looked down at the bandages again and pinned them in place before looking back up at me. I shook my head. "I… think I'm going crazy," I said with a blank expression. Fasha looked shocked as she stood.

"Don't say that, Bardock!" she said. I turned away from her. I didn't want to tell her that it was true, but it was. There was no possible other explanation to why I was seeing Hanasia again. Hell, she hadn't gone to Hell, like the rest of us. She'd died a day before the planet's destruction, only two days after Kakarot's birth. It was rumoured that she'd been killed by a demon, and that she was now little more than a wandering soul.

"It's true, Fasha!" I said suddenly, grabbing Fasha's arm. "I keep seeing Hanasia, Fasha. _Hanasia_." I stopped. I hadn't meant to tell her that. I hadn't meant to mention Hanasia to Fasha. The Saiyan woman looked at me, shocked. Dammit.

"Hanasia? Bardock, Hanasia's dead," she said, frowning. I shook my head.

"Yeah, I know, but…" I trailed off as the door opened and Tora and Kuriza walked in. I sighed as I sat back and smiled sadly at Tora. "Hey," I said. He squinted at me. I frowned.

"Are you okay, Bardock?" Kuriza asked. I nodded as I let Fasha's wrist go, only for her to walk out. Tora, after shooting me a curious look, followed her. "You seem to be well. But last night… there was definitely something amiss," he mused. I frowned. Yeah, something had _definitely_ been amiss last night… and it was much worse because I didn't actually remember what had happened.

Suddenly the ship was flung off-course. I yelled as I slammed my head against the backboard of the bed. Kuriza cried out as he smacked into the wall. An alarm began to blare, and I staggered to my feet as I walked over to Kuriza. I pulled him to his feet – the poor Changeling was shaking – and we ran out of the room to check what was going on. I saw Tora and Fasha running down the hallways as well, and we all met up. None of us said anything, however, as we all ran into the control bridge. I heard Fasha scream as the ship groaned again and tipped to the side. We staggered around, and I finally managed to sit down in a chair and strap myself in using the harness. Fasha, Tora and Kuriza did the same, and Kuriza quickly pressed in a command code. The alarm continued to blare as the ship was righted, and we spun around to see a black ship with blue fluorescent tubing on the sides.

"Oh fuck no," I whispered to myself as Kuriza tried to take our ship away from the Marauders'. Suddenly I thought of something. "Kuriza, take us in to that ship!" I hissed. Tora and Fasha gave me horrified looks, and Kuriza looked at me, panicked.

"Excuse me?" he said with a small voice.

I shook my head. "I don't have time to explain. Just take us in there!" I said. Kuriza hesitated before typing in another command code. The ship's boosters suddenly sent us flying forward, and then… we were in. A dark loading bay – only lit by fluorescent tubing – was where our little ship landed, and as the hatch opened I stepped out and looked around. My dark eyes adjusted slowly to the darkness, and I began to see many boxes and stuff. I frowned. This looked like a cargo hold.

"Bardock, explain to us right now!" Tora hissed as he stepped out of the ship, Fasha and Kuriza in tow. I shook my head.

"If we can figure out what their plan is, maybe we can prevent it from happening," I whispered. Tora nodded slightly, seeming to understand. Fasha frowned but said nothing. I saw that Kuriza looked frightened, and I felt a pang of regret. I'd dragged him into this, but there was no way to know how strong he was. As a Changeling, I knew that Kuriza had a lot of power… but did he know how to use it? That was what I wanted to know.

_Intruder alert. Intruder alert. All soldiers to battle stations. Intruder alert. Intruder alert,_ a voice over a hidden intercom droned as an alarm began to go off. I scowled. I was getting sick of hearing alarms, but that wasn't the least of our problems. We'd somehow been detected, and I wanted to know how. Suddenly I heard Kuriza hiss, and I turned around to see a door opening. Purple-skinned warriors – all dressed in black – ran out and pointed energy guns at us. The guns glowed blue, showing that they were charged. These Marauders seemed to have a preference for black and glowing blue, except for their princess, who'd been wearing aqua and gold clothing that revealed a huge amount of skin…

"It's you!" one of the soldiers said, and I noticed that he seemed to have golden eyes. I shivered as he stared into my black ones. The soldier appeared to have silky black hair, very much like Saiyans, only it was a lot flatter, and I could see that it changed. Saiyan hair tended to have odd hairstyles; this Marauder's hairstyle seemed very normal.

"I don't know who you… Wait… You were with that group of soldiers when I…!" I stared in shock. How had I not noticed this one? His black hair and golden eyes separated him from the white haired, red eyed others. He had the same purple skin, but I could see that he had a strange black tattoo around his eye.

"You're the heathen that killed our fair princess," the man said. Fasha sucked in air then, and I looked back at her.

"You're a Councilman," she breathed, and my eyes widened as I heard her words and turned back to the Councilman. I grimaced. Great. This guy was telepathic… Suddenly, he smiled, and his eyes glowed brightly for a minute.

"Bardock?" I heard Hanasia's voice say, and I froze as I saw her, standing in front of the soldiers. The soldiers were relaxed now… but why? The Councilman was standing next to Hanasia, a smile on his face. "Bardock, please, don't fight," my mate said. I was completely under her spell. I took a step forward, and then felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked around, dazed, to see Fasha standing there, clutching my shoulder and looked panicked.

"Bardock, what are you doing?!" she hissed. I stared at her, my mind blank. I looked back over at Hanasia, who looked hurt, and the soldiers behind her. I shook my head.

_You're under a spell, Bardock…_ Toolo's voice rang through my mind, clearing up a bit of the smog that was filling my mind. I shook my head. _Fight it, Bardock. Think of your sons…_

"N-no…," I groaned as I collapsed to my knees. Fasha tried to stop me, but I was just too heavy for her. "No. NO! STOP! STOP THIS!" I roared as I fired a Riot Javelin at Hanasia. It phased right through her, but struck some of the soldiers and vaporised them. The Councilman frowned as he looked over at the soldiers, and then he looked back at me. His eyes narrowed, and they glowed vibrantly. Pain flooded into me. I cried out, and I heard Tora snarl.

"Take this, you prick!" he yelled as he fired a ki blast. It exploded immediately on contact with the Councilman, and immediately the pain ceased. Hanasia looked around, panicked, as she disappeared, and I heard the Councilman scream in agony. "You'll pay for that!" Tora yelled as he jumped towards the Councilman, only to have some of the soldiers shove him backwards.

"What the hell did you do to Bardock?!" Fasha screamed as she hugged me. I was shocked. I couldn't move. My visions of Hanasia had been nothing more than projected images that someone was using to play a mind game? So… did that mean that my earlier vision had been an illusion as well? Was that never going to happen?

The Councilmember recovered then, and smirked. "We've done nothing!" he cooed innocently, but the evil smirk marred the innocence. "It's all him," he said sweetly. The false sweetness made me sick, and I looked up.

"You're wrong," Kuriza said then. It was the first thing he'd said since the attack, and I noticed that his tail was swishing gently. "I can tell that you're playing mind games," he said. The Councilman looked at Kuriza, shocked, as if he hadn't expected to see him.

"A… Changeling?" he breathed, and then got a good looked at Kuriza. "N-no… It can't be…"

"Hello, Councilman Cyanon," Kuriza said as he smirked. Cyanon took a few horrified steps backwards. "I'm not Frieza, but I am his son," Kuriza said softly as he looked at his tail, and then back at Cyanon. I watched this, horrified, but amused at the same time. This was hilarious.

"K-kuriza?" Cyanon choked out. The soldiers stepped backwards as Kuriza's tail suddenly lifted off of the ground and posed next to his head, scorpion-like. The soldiers suddenly cried out as Kuriza's tail shot forward, and then I heard a strangled gasp from Cyanon as blood splashed onto the ground. Kuriza withdrew his tail back to him, and Cyanon fell to the ground, gurgling. The sound was absolutely horrible, and I had to look away.

"Y-you…," one of the soldiers gasped out as they all fled. I struggled to my feet as Kuriza shook his tail off and walked over to us. Tora strode over as well and placed his hand on Fasha's shoulder.

"That was cool," I said to Kuriza. He solemnly looked at me and said nothing, and I frowned as I looked at my teammates. "I'm sorry for frightening you earlier. But I think I'll be fine now," I said as I dusted myself off and looked over at Cyanon with a scowl on my face. I shook my head as I looked away.

"There should be a database up the hallway," Kuriza murmured, and I nodded as we started walking down the hallway the soldiers had emerged from. The idiots had forgotten to shut the door, and I noticed that there seemed to be an absence of Marauders.

"Where the hell is everyone?" I asked quietly as I looked around. Nobody answered me, and I sighed. Fasha and Tora wouldn't even look at me, and I began to feel sad. Why were they ignoring me? What the heck had I done…? I came to a stop, and they just kept walking. I rolled my eyes as I followed along. They didn't even notice when I did something completely opposite to what they did. "Guys," I said. This time, they looked over at me. Fasha frowned.

"Yes?" she asked. I sighed and shook my head.

"You know what? Never mind. It's not important anyway," I scowled as I pushed past them all. Fasha, Tora and Kuriza all looked at me as I walked away…

And then I fell into a pitfall.


	8. Chapter 8

"Ouch!" I cried as I slammed onto the hard ground. I didn't know how far I'd fallen, but I could no longer see any fluorescent blue glow. That meant that I was really far down. I frowned as I stood. My tail was throbbing in agony; I'd unwrapped it in a desperate attempt to see if there was anything to latch onto, and I'd landed on it. "Hey!" I yelled. My voice echoed around me, and I frowned as I reached forward. Only three inches in front of my face, my hand touched a cold, metal wall. Panic began to set in as I looked around. Walls were enclosed around me, but then I saw something. There seemed to be a fluorescent glow just under one of the walls, and I squatted down and looked underneath. I could see walls, lined with blue tubing, and I stood up and grinned as I cracked my knuckles.

I slammed my fist into the door, and there was a crunch. A dint appeared in the metal, and I grimaced as I looked down at my burning knuckles. I sighed as I poked the knuckle on my middle finger. It was definitely broken. But that didn't stop me from punching the door again, and finally I punctured a hole in it. By now, my knuckle was screaming at me, but I ignored the pain and widened the opening so that it was large enough for me to crawl out of. I crawled out and stood as I looked around. This hallway was more illuminated than the darker hallways that Fasha, Tora and Kuriza were still wandering around in (I hoped).

"Bardock!" I heard someone hiss, and I turned around and looked back down at the hole to see Fasha crawling out of it. Following her were Tora and Kuriza, but my previous anger and confusion over being ignored didn't return. I frowned. "Are you okay?" she asked as the three looked at me. I nodded.

"Yeah… except I crushed my tail," I said. Fasha nodded and sighed as she looked around.

"This area is more illuminated," she mused. I nodded, but said nothing as we all began to walk down the hallways. "Bardock…," Fasha said after a while. I looked back at her. Tora and Kuriza were looking down at their feet as well. "We're sorry for earlier," she apologised.

"Don't worry about it," I said, waving her apology away. Suddenly I saw a lady standing in front of us. Her black hair was long and sleek, and her golden eyes were looking at us. They were bright and vibrant, but her features – especially the tattoo around her eye – marked her for what she was.

"So, you are the four intruders," the woman said, stepping forward. She was alone, and she stopped about three metres in front of us. "My name is Marona," she said. I nodded. Why was this Marauder telling us who she was?

"Why are you telling us this?" Fasha gave voice to my thoughts, and I saw Tora and Kuriza cock their heads to the side, as if they were wondering the same thing.

"Not all of the Spognardians are on the Marauders' side, you know," Marona said. I frowned.

"What the fucking hell is a Spognardian?" I asked. Marona smiled.

"It is the species of which the Marauders first came from… Unfortunately, only few know that anymore," Marona said as she looked down at her feet sadly. Then she turned around and walked off, gesturing for us to follow. We did, and soon enough we found ourselves in a room filled with computers. Marona gestured. "This is a data room. You will be able to find out about Gren's plan here."

"Gren?" I asked. Marona nodded.

"Yes. Gren was among the soldiers when you killed Princess Violetta. He is the one that made Cyanon telepathically pain you, and he is the one who is planning to destroy your children. He is the leader of us, and the caretaker of Reyd and Violetta," Marona said with a hint of disgust in her voice. I nodded as Kuriza hopped over to the computer and looked at it. Marona pressed in her code, and I watched as Kuriza sifted through all of the data until he found something. It had my sons' names on it, and the little Changeling clicked on it. Horrified, I took in all of the data. The plans for my children's deaths… They were horrible. I felt sick as I looked at them, and had to look away. Well, I'd found out at least one interesting bit of information: the Spognardians weren't born. They were created from other peoples.

"Has… has there been any… any Saiyans that have been converted?" I heard Fasha choke out. Marona nodded, and I felt sick.

"Yes… her name… is Hanasia." My world shattered. After the birth of Kakarot, Hanasia had disappeared. Many of the Saiyans had told me that she was dead, but when I'd gone to Hell… I hadn't seen her there. While I had done a good job of hiding my distress, it had still been there.

"Hanasia… she was my mate…" I collapsed to my knees. I heard Marona gasp as she heard that.

"Is there a way to re-convert them?" Kuriza asked then. I looked up at Marona, and was happy when I saw her nod. Kuriza's eyes widened. "How?!" he asked.

"We keep the converts away from their families. If Hanasia were to see you, Bardock, she will re-convert," Marona said. I smiled. This was good news.

"Where is she?" I asked. Marona sighed.

"Unfortunately, she follows Gren around like a lost puppy," Marona said, and my plan to go find her shattered. Dammit. But there was no time to wallow in my grief, for the door burst open. Another Councilman walked in, followed by a red-eyed, white-haired woman. The woman looked dazed, but there was something in her eyes… something that I knew. _Hanasia… You may have changed, but I still know you,_ I thought to myself. "G-gren…?" Marona stuttered. Gren narrowed his eyes. I looked at the Marauder woman. She was looking down at the ground. Did she know I was here, or was she being ordered to look down at the ground?

"I cannot believe that you would betray us, my dear Marona," Gren cooed, his voice sounding sickly sweet, but I could tell that it was faked. Gren walked over to Marona – leaving Hanasia standing alone, which was a bad move – and gently put his hand on her shoulder. I scuttled over to Hanasia while my two teammates watched.

"Hanasia," I whispered, wondering if it would work. It did. Hanasia looked up at me, and her red eyes widened as she took my features in. I smiled. "Hello, Hanasia," I said. Hanasia reached out to touch my face, and her purple fingers made contact with my cheek. It was that one touch that made her re-convert. She began to glow, and Gren whipped around, but it was too late. A bubble of light surrounded Hanasia's Marauder form, and when it disappeared, a Saiyan wearing stylised armour was standing in front of me. Her skin was the same colour as Kakarot's, and her hair just as long and dark as Raditz's. She looked up at me and smiled.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Gren screamed at me. Hanasia shot him an angry look.

"He freed me. Problem?" she said. I laughed, but my laugher was cut short as Gren raised his hand. The glow of energy lit up his palm, and then, he fired a ki blast. It shot straight past Marona, Fasha and Tora… and then I realised who Gren's target was. I cried out, but it was too late. The ki blast hit Kuriza and exploded violently. I heard Fasha cry out, and Tora grabbed her in his arms. The smoke cleared, and I saw Kuriza slumped on the chair, his eyes glazed over.

"Kuriza!" I yelled as Hanasia, Fasha, Tora and I all ran over to Kuriza. Gren looked satisfied, but Marona looked horrified.

"You killed him! He was a child!" Marona gasped to Gren, who turned to her. I saw a glint in his golden eyes, and then I saw Marona fall to the floor. Her body was nothing more than a sack of meat and bones. I glared at Gren.

"She is no longer useful to me. Now," Gren turned to us, "I will allow you _one_ chance to escape."

"And what is the catch?" Hanasia scowled. Gren cocked his head to the side.

"There is none. Now go," he said, waving his hand. A blue portal appeared, and after one burning look to Gren, I picked up Kuriza's limp body and stepped in. Hanasia, Fasha and Tora followed, and soon we found that we were back at the ship. We stepped inside and walked to the control bridge. I laid Kuriza down on a desk, and silently walked back over to the controls.

"So now what?" Fasha asked as she looked over at Hanasia. Hanasia looked at her – the two didn't really get along – but didn't say anything. Fasha shook her head and looked over at me. "Bardock?"

"We have to get to Earth even faster now," I said. Hanasia looked over at me and frowned.

"Earth… Isn't that where Kakarot was sent?" she asked as she looked over at me. I nodded. She frowned. "Has he not completed his assignment?" she asked.

"Hanasia, the Saiyans are gone. There are few of us, and there are two females left," I said. Hanasia's eyes widened, but she said nothing. "Our sons, Raditz and Kakarot, are currently living on Earth, peacefully. Frieza was killed by a Super Saiyan," I explained. Hanasia smirked as I pressed a few command codes in, and our ship took off. It exited the Spognardian ship and flew into space. As we looked, the Spognardian ship phased out of reality. We all stared in shock before I sighed and began to fly away from where we were.

"Bardock," Tora said, and I looked over at him as he told me, "We need to bury Kuriza."

"I know, Tora," I said as I pulled up the ship's star charts. I scanned them until I found a decent planet. "We're going here for now," I said as I plotted a course. We flew off. Silently we flew across the cosmos, heading towards our destination. It took a while, but eventually we made it. The planet was not a known one to me, but I'd heard that Saiyans had been targeting it before our untimely demise.

As we landed, I saw that there were no people around. I smiled sadly as I picked up Kuriza's limp body and stepped out of the ship. Hanasia, Fasha and Tora followed sadly. When I finally found a good spot, I shot two small ki beams from my eyes, making a gouge in the ground. I lowered Kuriza in the ground gently and folded his arms over his chest. Then we all started covering his little body with soil, and when we were done, I marked the grave with a bunch of flowers that Hanasia retrieved.

"Goodbye, Kuriza," I whispered as we all stood over the grave. None of us said anything for a few minutes, and then Hanasia gently placed her hand on my shoulder. I looked over at her, and her dark eyes were filled with pain and sadness. I saw Fasha sobbing into Tora's chest – it seemed as if the two were finally open to showing their feelings about each other – and I gently hugged Hanasia.

"I didn't know Kuriza that well, but… even though he was the son of Frieza, he didn't deserve to die," Hanasia whispered to me. I nodded as we stood like that for a few minutes, before I sighed and released her. Fasha and Tora had separated and were looking sadly at me. I sucked in air.

"We need to go," I said as I turned on my heel and walked towards the ship. My three companions followed me, and as they entered the ship, I stopped and looked back at Kuriza's grave before stepping into the ship, the hatch shutting behind me.

We needed to get to Earth even more now.


	9. Chapter 9

_"Daddy, Daddy!" I heard a tiny voice say, and I blearily opened my eyes to see Raditz sitting on my chest. I stared at him, shocked. Raditz wasn't a morning person, but he seemed to be very excited… even though he was only one. Hanasia, my mate, was rarely around to see her son; thus, he didn't really know her too well._

_"Yeah?" I asked groggily as I sat up and yawned. Raditz tugged on my cheek and I scrunched up my face. "C'mon, kid, tell me what's up," I said through gritted teeth. Raditz smiled at me._

_"Daddy, Aunty Fasha and Uncle Tora are here!" he said cheerfully. I frowned. I hadn't told him about the King's declaration; the Saiyans and the Tuffles were officially at war as of today. I got out of bed then, pushing Raditz off of me. My son gave me a curious look, and I smiled down at him. "Daddy?" he said. I kissed him lightly on the forehead then, and tears began to well up in his eyes. "Daddy, what's wrong?" he whispered._

_"I need you to stay here, okay?" I said. Raditz looked up at me, scared. "Daddy will be back later," I soothed as I walked out. I didn't get very far; Raditz jumped onto the back of my leg and by the gods was he a cling-on. I looked down at him and frowned. "What are you doing?"_

_"Daddy… please take me with you," he sobbed. I grimaced as I walked awkwardly over to the door of my 'house,' which was really just a cave. Fasha and Tora were standing there, and I smiled as Fasha looked down at my leg and noticed my wailing child. How could you not notice him?_

_"Is Raditz okay?" she asked curiously. I shook my head as I pulled him off of my leg. His screams only got louder, and I frowned at him._

_"Raditz, what's wrong?" I asked. Raditz suddenly clung to my arm really tightly (which began to hurt). "Daddy's coming back; you'll be fine!" I said gently._

_"NO! DADDY'S GONNA BE FIGHTING TUFFLES, AREN'T YOU?!" Raditz screamed suddenly. I panicked. How the hell did Raditz know about that?_

_"Raditz, Daddy has to…"_

_"NO! PLEASE STAY HERE WITH ME!" Raditz sobbed as I pulled him to my chest and hugged him. Poor thing. He really didn't understand that I _needed_ to fight. I _needed_ to aid the war effort. This would mean the freedom of our people from the Tuffles… and by the gods was I going to do everything in my power to see that day. Even if I died only a few hours later, I wanted to be there – fighting alongside my fellows – when the Saiyans killed the Tuffles. "Daddy… do you really have to go?" Raditz begged as I remained silent. I looked down at him, and I could see tears sparkling in the corners of his eyes._

_"Raditz… Do you know what freedom is?" I asked. Raditz stared at me silently, his eyes twinkling in curiosity. Fasha and Tora also looked confused onto why I'd asked this of my child. When Raditz shook his head, I smiled. "Freedom is being able to do whatever you want, whenever you want. The Tuffles rule us, and we are nothing but slaves to them. We have no freedom," I said. Raditz blinked._

_"So… you and Aunty and Uncle," Raditz paused as he looked over at Fasha and Tora, "Are you going to make us free?"_

_"Yes," Fasha and Tora said in unison. Raditz smiled, lighting up his cute, chubby face. He jumped down from my arm and hugged my leg._

_"Stay safe, Daddy," he said, then looked at Fasha and Tora and said, "You too, Aunty, Uncle." Then he ran inside, and I turned to Fasha and Tora._

_"We ready?" Fasha asked. I nodded._

_"Ready."_


	10. Chapter 10

"Bardock, wake up," Tora said as he shook me gently. His voice was little more than a hushed whisper, and I groaned as I opened my eyes. Tora's dark eyes were relaxed, so there was clearly nothing to worry about.

"What's up, buddy?" I whispered. Tora sighed as he looked over at Hanasia's sleeping form. I looked over at her too, before frowning and looking back up at Tora. "What about Hanasia? She's fine," I said as I looked over at her again.

"You know Fasha and Hanasia… dislike each other," Tora said. I blankly looked up at him. Disliked was a weak word for the description of Fasha and Hanasia's bond. They _hated_ each other. They'd been friends once, but then all that shit about mine and Hanasia's relationship had blown up. Fasha, for some reason, had been pissed at me, and I'd only later found out about her feelings for me. Since then, she'd abandoned them and her feelings for Tora had grown, and we'd rebuilt our friendship. Hanasia, however, was forever hated.

"Yeah, I know, but still. Maybe they can use this opportunity to stitch up their friendship," I said as Hanasia mumbled something unintelligible. Tora sighed. I looked over at the star chart then, and my eyes widened. We were really close to Earth, only a few solar systems out. _And yet…_ I thought as my eyes darkened. _We still don't know where the Spognardians are. Or should I call them Marauders?_ I frowned, and looked over at the fuel gauge. My eyes nearly fell out of my head when I saw that we were extremely low on fuel. I turned to Tora. "Shit. We gotta land."

"Huh? Why?" he asked, and I silently pointed at the fuel gauge. Tora cursed to himself as I grabbed the controls. "Should I wake the girls?" he asked. I shook my head, and Tora nodded as he strapped himself in for our landing. I pressed a button, which put a harness over the girls, and they didn't stir. I found a suitable planet, which appeared to have a fuel station, and I started taking the ship down. We entered the planet's atmosphere, and as the temperature started to rise, I flicked the cooling system on.

Surprisingly, the planet offered little resistance for when we landed. I frowned as I looked around. There were little to no people, but at least the fuel station was active. I landed the ship nearby and stepped out, telling Tora to stay and – if the girls woke – tell them that we'd landed because of fuel and supply issues. I walked over to the fuel station and the door slid open. I saw movement out of the corner of my eyes, and when I turned I saw a woman hiding behind the desk. Her blue eyes looked terrified, and her green hair was frazzled.

"S-stay away!" she cried as I stepped towards her. She slid behind the desk a bit further, and I sighed.

"I'm not here to hurt you," I said gently. The girl peeked over, and scanned me with her blue eyes. I shook my head. "My name is Son Bardock. What's yours?" I asked.

"G-ginger," she stuttered. I nodded. She stood up, revealing that she appeared to be wearing a nightdress. Walking out from behind the desk, she walked over to me and scanned me. "W-why a-are you here?" she asked.

"We're out of fuel and we also need supplies," I said. Ginger looked around before shaking her head.

"I-I am s-sorry, b-but… Eek!" she cried as an explosion made the ground shake. Ginger stumbled and tripped, but I caught her before she hurt herself. We ran over to the window and looked out, only to see a black ship with fluorescent blue tubing lining the sides floating high in the sky. I turned to Ginger, who looked petrified. "Th-they-re h-here… Th-they've come to kill us all," she cried as she sank to the floor. I shook my head.

"No. They won't kill you or your people. I'll stop them!" I cried as I ran out of the fuel station and looked over at the ship I'd used to get here. I saw Hanasia, Fasha and Tora standing outside of the ship, looking up, and I ran over to them. "Is it…?"

"Yeah. It's them, alright," Hanasia scowled. I nodded. She would know. She'd been converted into one of them. I nodded. "Bardock, what have you got planned?" Hanasia asked after I grinned evilly. I looked up into the sky and, without answering Hanasia's question, shot into the sky. Fasha, Tora and Hanasia cried out, but they had no choice but to follow me.

"We're stopping this before it gets worse!" I yelled as beams started to rain down on me. I motioned for my teammates to split away, just so they didn't get hit with the beams, as I began to charge up my Riot Javelin. I threw it and it hit one of the beam guns, and there was an explosion. The ship shook and I heard screams. I grinned as I charged up another Riot Javelin… but I never got to throw it. A beam hit me, piercing right through my shoulder, and I screamed as blood splashed out. "Ow! FUCK!" I screamed as my Riot Javelin disappeared into nothing and I grabbed my shoulder. More beams rained down on me, and I scowled as I flew out of their range. I heard screams – not the Marauders' or the Saiyans' – and I cursed to myself. Had I let Ginger down?

"Fuck this shit. They've got powerful weaponry," Tora said as he landed next to me. I saw that there was blood flowing down his leg, and I saw that he had a wound in his side. Hanasia landed as well, supporting an unconscious Fasha. I smiled. Hanasia didn't like Fasha too much, but we Saiyans helped each other… or, at least, the low-class Saiyans did. High-class Saiyans tended to abandon those who were no longer useful to them.

"Yeah… But we have to take them… What is _that_?!" Hanasia exclaimed as we all looked up and saw the Marauder ship charging up a huge beam. I realised that it was aimed right at our spaceship, and we were powerless to do anything to stop.

Almost.

"Hyah!" I screamed as I initiated my Super Saiyan transformation. Tora and Hanasia stared at me in shock as I took off. I sped towards the fuel station, more focussed on rescuing Ginger than the ship, and glee coursed through me as I saw that I was faster than the charging laser. "Ginger!" I yelled, hoping to get a response as I smashed through the window of the fuel station. I commando-rolled and stood, looking around; I could just see her dishevelled green hair poking out from behind the desk. I ran over and leaned over the desk, and her frightened blue eyes looked up at me. I stretched out my hand. "You have to come with me now!" I said, and Ginger nodded as she grabbed my hand. I pulled her to her feet and hugged her tightly to me as I jumped out of the window and flew into the sky, just as the beam finished charging. It was fired, and it hit the fuel station. The station exploded, and Ginger screamed as she buried her head into my chest. Flames and smoke billowed into the air, and Ginger sobbed quietly as I flew away from the fuel station. I saw that our ship was okay, and I saw Tora and Hanasia running towards it. I landed and set Ginger down, then put my hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Ginger, you have to flee. My friends and I are gonna try to lead the Marauders away, okay?" I asked.

Ginger nodded. "Stay safe, Son Bardock," she whispered as I let her go, and she ran away. I ran over to the ship and jumped in just as the hatch shut.

"What the…?" I asked as I looked at the fuel gauge once we were all in the control bridge. The fuel tank was filled, and I smiled. Ginger must have refreshed our tanks. If she survived, I would have to return and thank her. "We need to lure the Marauders away!" I yelled. Hanasia nodded as she strapped Fasha into a chair. Tora sat next to her, and Hanasia sat next to me.

"So what is your plan?" she asked as I engaged the thrusters.

"This." We flew forward and flew around the ship. Like I'd hoped, all fire was directed at us. I knew that they could see into our ship somehow, so I flipped them the bird and poked my tongue out. Hanasia stared at me, dumbfounded.

"Why am I mated to you?" she asked as I turned the ship around, and we started to head into outer space. The Marauder ship followed us, and I poked out my tongue again. I would not allow them to attack Ginger's people again. "Seriously?" Hanasia groaned.

I grinned. "Hey, you gotta admit: I am an _awesome_ mate," I said as I engaged the thrusters again. Hanasia sighed and shook her head as the ship took off, and I saw the Marauder ship begin to give chase. I pulled up the star charts as we flew, and immediately saw an asteroid belt. I grinned. We'd be able to hide there for a while, and hopefully the Marauders wouldn't go back to Ginger's home planet.

"Uh… where…?" Fasha moaned as she woke up. Tora touched her shoulder gently, and Fasha sat up abruptly as I headed towards the asteroid belt. "What's going on?" she hissed.

"We're leading the Marauders away from that planet," I said as we entered the asteroid belt and swerved around the asteroids. The Marauder ship followed, and while it broke through the smaller asteroids, it couldn't break the larger ones. I chose one of them to hide behind, and immediately shut off the boosters, putting the ship into drift mode. By pure luck, the asteroid drifted wherever we drifted, and I smiled. The Marauders, hopefully, wouldn't find us.

I saw then that the Marauder ship was phasing into another plain of existence, and I breathed a sigh of relief as I reinitiated the boosters and flew out from behind the asteroid. I frowned as I pulled the star chart up again and looked at it. But just before I could plot a course, I froze. In front of my hand was not the control panel. Panicked, I looked around, only to see a destroyed city. _Earth…_ I looked around, only to see the Marauder ship in the sky. I hissed, and then I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around to see Raditz standing there. Blood was welling from a deep cut over his left eye, and I frowned.

"Father, why are you here? Mother's hurt, remember?" he said. Confusion bloomed in my heart, but I didn't voice it. Instead, I said something different.

"Yes. I know. But… but I have to do this," I said. Raditz frowned at me, and I saw tears begin to well up in his eyes as Kakarot ran over.

"No… You don't have to, Dad," Kakarot sobbed as he hugged me. I was taken aback by the hug, but my arms wrapped around him without me telling them. It was as if I was only in control of my emotions… and not of my body or speech.

"Yes I do. These people… they're going to kill you. But if I die… hopefully that's compensation for killing their princess." I smiled at my two sons, my mind continually screaming at me.

"Dad…" Raditz looked at me sadly. "Goodbye," he whispered as he pulled me into a hug. The three of us stood there like that for a while before Raditz let me go and pulled Kakarot off. "C'mon, Kakarot, we have to go," he said as he dragged Kakarot away. I looked sadly after my sons, and then a mask of determination fell on my face as I looked up at the Marauder ship.

"This is the end," I breathed to myself as I flew towards the ship…

And then I fell off of my chair.

My vision faded into nothing, and I looked around at Hanasia, Tora and Fasha. I saw that Fasha and Tora were holding my panicked mate back, and I stood up.

"Bardock, are you okay?" Hanasia asked as they let her go. I nodded.

"Yeah… Just a vision," I said. Hanasia gave me a curious look, and I frowned as I remembered that I hadn't told her of the divination yet. "Uh… well, on Kanassa…" I explained the situation about me getting Toolo's powers, and Hanasia nodded after I'd explained.

"We better quicken our pace, then."


	11. Chapter 11

I frowned as I leaned against the chair. We were now only days away from Earth, and while our provisions had held out, I wasn't sure if our fuel would. We had little more than quarter of a tank left. And that was the least of our worries; we hadn't run into the Marauders again. I had wondered if Gren had decided to leave us alone, but that couldn't be right. Gren was Princess Violetta's caretaker, according to what Marona had said, and he would either kill me or my sons, as compensation for killing the princess.

_"Reaching planet Earth in approximately two days,"_ the computerised voice said when I asked. I sighed and looked over at Tora and Fasha. Fasha was cuddling Tora's chest, and he was going as red as a tomato. I laughed. Hanasia was sitting next to me, looking at the star charts and frowning.

"So… Planet Vegeta _was_ destroyed," she whispered, looking over at me. I nodded. Hanasia frowned as she looked at the planet we were passing; the unfortunately named Uranus. A smile lit Hanasia's features when I told her the name, and she looked over at me. "Bardock, can you… can you tell me what our sons are like? Just so I know what to expect when I see them," she said.

"Well… Raditz is a lot like you. He's got your hair, and he's smart." Hanasia's face lit up even more when I said that. "Kakarot… well, he's got my hairstyle, and he's very clownish. He's also a permanent amnesiac," I said. Hanasia's face fell.

"S-so… He doesn't…"

"Nope. Didn't even recognise his older brother," I said. Hanasia sighed. I leaned over and placed my hand on hers. "Hey. Don't worry. He knows Raditz and me now, and I'm sure he'd love to meet his mother," I said reassuringly.

"Yeah… I hope," Hanasia said, smiling at me.

Suddenly, I heard Tora mutter something unintelligible, and I looked over at him curiously. He looked over at me and pointed, and I looked up.

"Holy fuck…" I whispered as I saw the massive ringed planet. Hanasia quickly pulled the star chart up again, and we all looked at it. The planet was registered as Saturn, and I whistled in admiration. When I learned that it was a gas giant, I stared in shock. A planet like that… made of nothing more that gas? "Hey, Tora," I said suddenly. Tora looked over at me and cocked his head to the side. "Do you think we can patch a com channel to Caps… I mean, Earth?" I asked. Tora frowned.

"Yeah… It's possible." He scratched his head. "But you may get the wrong people."

"Capsule Corporation – the place I'm trying to com – is the only place on Earth with space-savvy tech. That's where Raditz stays," I said. Tora nodded and clicked the com button. I quickly put in a code that changed our com's frequency to Capsule Corp.'s. Bulma had told me the frequency once, and I hadn't forgotten it.

_"Hello?"_ I heard Bulma's voice say, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey, Bulma. It's Bardock here," I said. I heard Bulma gasp.

_"Bardock?! Really?!"_ she said, and then I heard her call, _"Raditz! Goku! It's your father!"_ Hanasia, Fasha and Tora all looked up at me as I smiled.

_"Huh? You called?"_ I heard Kakarot say, and I grinned. It was nice to hear my son's voice again.

"Hey Kakarot, Raditz," I said. I heard both boys gasp.

_"Dad?! How… Are you alive?!"_ Raditz asked. I laughed.

"Yup. And I have Fasha and Tora with me… and Hanasia!" I heard Raditz mutter something, but I didn't understand him.

_"Who's Hanasia, Raditz?"_ Kakarot asked innocently.

_"Our mother,"_ he said, but none of us could tell what he was feeling. His voice had gone monotonous. I frowned.

"Hey, we're on our way to Earth. There's something we need to tell you," Tora suddenly said.

_"Okay. Where are you landing?" _Bulma asked. I frowned.

"Well, we can't land in a city. We've got a Planet Trade vessel, so we'll need to land in a wasteland or something along those lines," I said. I heard Bulma ask about the size of the vessel, and Raditz gave her an answer. She gasped.

_"Land anywhere, but not near a city or village, and then go Super Saiyan,"_ Kakarot suggested to me. I nodded and, after saying goodbye, I cut off the com. I looked at my teammates.

"In two days, we'll be at Earth. So I suggest doing some training," I said, sounding very bossy. But my teammates knew better than to mess with me. Tora shook Fasha gently awake, and they both departed to do some training… at least, I hoped. Hanasia, however, sat silently in her chair, looking away from me. "Hey… Hanasia… You alright?"

"Y-yeah… I… I'm fine," Hanasia said, sounding like she was about to cry. I stood up and walked over to her, kneeling next to her chair and clasping her hand.

"You don't sound fine," I said. Hanasia looked over at me and sniffled.

"It… was Raditz. He… does he hate me?" Hanasia whispered as I stood, pulled her off of her chair, and hugged her. It was rare for me to show affection, but she really needed it at the moment.

"No. He doesn't. He doesn't know you very well, that's all," I soothed as Hanasia wrapped her arms around me. We stood like that for a while, settling into a comfortable silence. I stroked her hair gently as she cried quietly into my chest. And then, the door opened and Fasha and Tora stepped in. They were covered in bruises and blood, and there was a cut on Tora's cheek. They both stared at us, wondering what we were doing.

"Uh… Bardock…," Tora muttered.

"Don't say it," I growled. Tora eyes went wide, and he sheepishly scratched his head.

"Eh heh… say what?" Tora said. I nodded as I left Hanasia go.

"Good." I walked back over to the control panel as Hanasia sat back down in her seat and smiled at me. Tora and Fasha sat down at their chairs. They started talking quietly to each other, and I decided to ignore them as we reached the asteroid belt. We were soon to get to Earth…approximately two days my ass. At the rate we were going, it had been half a day… and it would take at least another half a day. I sighed. "I'm gonna go train a bit," I said suddenly as I rose and walked out of the room, not caring for what the others thought. I walked down the hallways, and to the training room Kuriza had shown us before his untimely death. I sighed as I opened the door and walked in. Before I could set up a training schedule, however, Hanasia walked in. I looked up at her. "Hey. What's up?" I asked as I smiled at her.

"Can I train with you?" she asked. I looked at her, taken aback with her question, but I smiled and nodded. She smiled at me and helped me to set up a training program that would help us both to get better in physical strength. I didn't mind having Hanasia train with me; I didn't regard her as weak. She was a strong woman, as most Saiyan women were. Most species' women were weaklings… but not Saiyan women. Chi-Chi and Eighteen, back on Earth, were also quite strong.

"Ready?" I said as my hand hovered over a button that, once pressed, would start sending training droids at us. Hanasia nodded, and I pressed the button. Almost immediately, training droids walked out of doors that hadn't been in the walls a second ago. Hanasia and I immediately went back-to-back and looked at the droids that were circling us, slowly walking towards us. I grimaced. Even though this was nothing more than training, I had been trained my entire life to regard training missions as full-threat situations… and it was no different now. "Hyah!" I cried as one of the droids walked too far forward, and I socked it in the head. Hanasia had already taken out three, and was now moving onto a fourth. I quickly took out my opponent and moved on. A fist to the stomach, a kick to the head. Rip off an arm, damage a leg. That was how it went, on and on and on, until finally the training situation was over. I panted as I collapsed to my knees; I'd made that training a bit harder than normal. That had pushed me to my limits and, as Hanasia collapsed to her knees, I realised that Hanasia had been hard-pressed as well. I looked over at her. "You okay?" I gasped, and Hanasia nodded.

"Yeah… that was tough… but it was fun," Hanasia breathed as she struggled to her knees. I struggled to mine too, and we smiled at each other. I turned off the training simulator as we walked out… or stumbled out, to be honest. When we got back to the control bridge, I saw Fasha poke Tora in the eye, and I frowned as I looked over at Hanasia, who simply shrugged.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked as I looked back at Fasha and Tora. Fasha simply sniffed and looked away. "Seriously, you just poked Tora in the eye," I said, looking over at Tora, who was clutching his eye. When he moved his hand, I saw that it was already becoming red and inflamed.

"Okay, I relent, I relent!" Tora whined. Fasha grinned.

"Good boy," she said.

"Can I have an explanation?" I asked.

"We were having an argument about which one of us is stronger," Fasha said, smiling innocently at Tora, who glared at her. Hanasia sighed as she sat down.

"And the results were…?"

"I'm stronger!" Fasha exclaimed as Tora rolled his eyes and sat down. I smiled as she sat down next to Tora, and I sat down as well.

"Yeah… I'm going to shut off power for the night. I want you all to go get some rest, okay?" I said as I pressed in a command code. The ship's boosters shut down, and the ship went into drift mode. I stood up and walked out, my three friends in tow. We were only using two rooms, and we'd decided that I would room with my mate. As we parted ways, I sighed and opened the door of the room that Hanasia and I were sleeping in. It had a double bed in it, and I sighed. I didn't remember the last time I'd slept in the same bed as my mate. It had probably been when Kakarot had been conceived.

"Bardock," Hanasia said, and I turned around to see that she was in the bed. Her armour was on a table beside her, but she was still wearing the underclothes. I pulled my armour off and rested it on the table next to Hanasia's armour, before taking off my arm and leg warmers and my headband, and putting them with my armour. I kicked my boots off and placed them next to hers before getting into the bed. Almost immediately, Hanasia cuddled into my chest, and I sighed. "I… I have a bad feeling… that… that…" Tears began to well up in Hanasia's eyes, and I wiped them away with my thumb.

"Hush, Hanasia. Go to sleep. Everything will be fine," I whispered, and then kissed her forehead. She nodded and rested her head against my chest. I wrapped my arms around her. "Goodnight, Hanasia," I said. She smiled.

"Goodnight, Bardock."


	12. Chapter 12

_"Destination reached. Arriving on planet Earth."_ The voice of the com was my alarm clock. I blearily opened my eyes and looked down at Hanasia, who was still sleeping in my arms, cuddled against my chest. I sighed as I gently kissed her forehead.

"Hanasia, it's time to wake," I breathed into her ear, and she groaned and curled up against my chest even more. I rolled my eyes. "Hanasia, wake up, please. We're here," I whispered. Hanasia groggily opened her eyes and looked up at me.

"What?" she murmured. I smiled as I sat up. Hanasia flopped onto the bed, and I laughed. She'd never been a morning person. I stood and walked over to the window. It had curtains covering it, and I grabbed the sides of them. Hanasia sat up and looked over at me. "You'll regret that," she said, sounding amused.

"It's a beautiful…" I never got to finish my sentence, as I yanked the curtains open. Bright sunlight streamed into my eyes, which had adjusted to darkness. "ARGH!" I screamed as I stumbled backwards, tripped over my unwrapped tail, and collapsed to the ground. I rubbed my eyes as Hanasia laughed and stood. She walked over to me and knelt down as I blinked frantically. My vision wasn't totally gone, but it only consisted of blurry blobs. I looked up Hanasia and blinked, trying to make out her face. She laughed as I rubbed my eyes again. "This isn't funny," I groaned as I stood, and tried to head towards my armour… only to nut-crunch myself on the corner of the table. "FUCK!" I screamed as I fell on the ground and curled up into a ball. Hanasia giggled as the door opened, and Fasha and Tora ran in. They'd obviously heard my cries of pain, for neither of them was wearing their armour.

"What the…?" Tora said as he looked down at me. I smiled a pained smile back up at him.

"He opened the window, got blinded and nutted himself," Hanasia said as she slid her feet into her boots and put her armour on. I struggled to my feet and managed to stumble over to the table as Tora and Fasha left, laughing.

"Not… funny…," I gasped as I put my armour, accessories and boots on. Hanasia simply smiled at me and walked out, her onyx hair seeming to shine. I sighed as I followed her out. We went to the door of the ship, and I saw Fasha and Tora walking down the hall. I nodded as they walked up to us, and opened the hatch. I stepped out, and immediately felt the warm rays of the sun. "Okay, so all I have to do now is power up," I said. I started to concentrate my energy, and then it was like an explosion, only without the noise. My hair stuck up and changed from jet black to gold, and my eyes changed from black to aqua.

"Holy hell…," Fasha whispered. Tora nodded.

"Yeah… apparently, Bardock can go Super Saiyan. He transformed while we were on that other planet," he said nonchalantly.

"Yeah… But…" I was cut off by someone – or, rather, multiple people – landing. I smiled as I saw Raditz and Kakarot. Raditz looked at us four as I rid myself of my transformation.

"So… you really are all alive," he murmured, looking from Tora to Fasha to me and to Hanasia, where his eyes stopped. It was hard to tell what he was feeling, but I saw the tiniest smile on his lips.

"Hello, Mother," he said. Kakarot looked up at Raditz, and then back to Hanasia. No amount of preparation would have prepared Hanasia for what happened next.

Almost childishly, Kakarot yelled, "Mummy!" as he bounded forward and hugged her. Hanasia's eyes widened as she looked at her son, who was my height. And then she laughed as she hugged him back.

"Hello, Kakarot," she said, and then looked over at Raditz. "Come here," she demanded. Raditz went red.

"Mother…," he complained. Every other member of the Z-Fighters laughed as Hanasia stormed over and wrapped her arms around Raditz. He was far taller than her, so her head was pressed against his stomach. "It's good to see you again, Mother," he said, smiling. Hanasia looked down as something tugged at her leg, and I laughed as I saw Goten and Trunks looking up at her.

One thing is to be said: Hanasia doesn't really like children.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!" she cried as she jumped away from them and ran back over to me. She hugged my arm and looked down at them. I frowned.

"Well… I'm glad you didn't raise Raditz," I said. Goten and Trunks looked taken aback. Goten looked up at Raditz then, who smiled down at him.

"What's wrong with Grandma?" Goten asked sadly. Hanasia didn't understand that Goten was Kakarot's son, because her face flushed red with anger.

"DON'T CALL ME GRANDMA AGAIN, SQUIRT!" she screamed.

"Mum… Goten _is_ your grandson," Raditz said. Hanasia blinked once before looking up at Raditz. I had to suppress a giggle. This was funny. Actually, Hanasia looked really taken aback.

"So Grandpa," Gohan said as he walked over. I looked over at him, and saw that he was frowning. "What did you need to tell us?" he asked. Hanasia looked up at me, and Tora and Fasha nodded for me to tell them.

"We were revived seven months after my return to Other World," I said. Everyone started to listen, and I nearly lost my nerve. But I shook my head and continued, "We ended up on a planet that I don't know the name of. We saw smoke, and went to investigate, only to find a destroyed city. That was when we met the Marauders or the Spognardians, if you prefer. I killed their princess because, well, she was pissing me off." I shook my head.

"You've always had a temper," Raditz sighed.

"Yeah, but anyway. I killed the princess, and her soldiers ran away. Later, we went to get a spaceship, and met a girl called Raven. She gave us an old Saiyan battleship that she'd repaired, and we departed, following the Marauders. But we were attacked, and we crash-landed on another planet. Our ship was damaged irreparably, and we left it. Soon after, we met Frieza's son, Kuriza." The Z-Fighters stared at me, shocked, but I went on. "Kuriza helped us by giving us a ship, and he came with us. He also told us about the death of the Marauder prince. We found the Marauder mother-ship, and we somehow managed to get on board. As soon as that happened… We were found and attacked. That was when we met Cyanon, a Councilman of the Marauders. Kuriza killed him, and then we went to find a data room…"

"Only for Bardock to fall into a trap," Fasha said. I nodded.

"Yeah… Fasha, Tora and Kuriza followed, and that was when we met Marona. She led us to a hidden data room, and told us about the Marauders… as well as telling us their real species name, Spognardians. She told us about Gren, the Marauder leader… and then he walked in, followed by Hanasia," I said, looking over at my mate.

"Mother…" Raditz shook his head and looked away from his mum. Hanasia looked sadly over at our oldest son.

"Raditz, I'm sorry," she said.

Sighing, I continued, "Thanks to me, Hanasia returned to normal… but that was when all of this started. The Marauders are after you, Raditz, Kakarot." I looked at each of them in turn, and they looked at each other in panic. "We've come to see if we can help you. We're not strong enough to take down the Marauders on our own…"

"We… we've got to help!" Gohan exclaimed. I looked over at him. "We can't just stand by! We _need_ to help! This could destroy everything we've all strived for, and it could destroy the whole universe!" Gohan exclaimed, his eyes seeming to light up with fire. Everyone nodded, and I saw Raditz look down at his hand. Kakarot put his hand on his brother's shoulder.

"It's okay, Raditz. We'll still train while we wait, and maybe you can increase your strength," he said to Raditz, smiling before looking back at us. "But you guys will need to train too," he noted. We all nodded.

We all decided to go back to Capsule Corporation and resume – or, in Fasha's, Tora's, Hanasia's and my case, start – our training. We all flew into the air after we hid the ship in leaves and camouflage, and flew towards West City. I smiled as I flew at Hanasia's side, and we smiled over at each other. I watched as Raditz and Kakarot spoke mildly to Vegeta about the upcoming problem, but it didn't seem as if they were bothered at all.

I wish I felt the same way…


	13. Chapter 13

It had been a while since Fasha, Tora and I had come to Earth, but we'd still never gotten rid of the horrible feeling that something was about to go horribly, horribly amiss. And today, that feeling was even stronger. I'd lost sleep over the feeling, and it didn't help that every time I closed my eyes, I envisioned my two children dying at my hands. The very thought terrified me.

"Dad?" Raditz said as he knocked on my door, and I turned around looked over at him. I'd been standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom attached to mine and Hanasia's room, and I hadn't noticed him coming up behind me. I smiled sadly, but Raditz's face was a mask of sadness and worry.

"Is something wrong, kid?" I asked, walking over to my taller son. I hated the fact that he was at least a head taller than me, but I could easily ignore it. Raditz swallowed and looked away from me. I frowned and grabbed his arm. The movement was reminiscent of the time that Raditz had been summoned to King Yemma's office. "You can tell me."

"I know, Dad. It's just… these Marauders… are they really that bad?" Raditz asked me. I frowned. They were evil, the Marauders, save for Marona. But since Marona was dead now, there wasn't really much I could say for the rest of the Spognardians, especially since they were ruled by Gren. Technically, this whole fiasco was my fault, but I was willing to accept whatever punishment was in store for me.

"Yeah… the only one that I met that was nice was Marona," I admitted. Raditz shook his head and sighed, looking down at the ground. "Hey, don't worry. I'm gonna stop these things, no matter what it takes," I said. Raditz looked up at me.

"But can you do it?" he asked. I frowned.

"What do you mean, Raditz?" I shook my head. I was certain that I would be able to take out the Marauders… granted, of course, that they didn't get their hands on any of my family. Raditz sighed and stood up. "Raditz, I'm a battle-hardened warrior. I can do this. It's my destiny to die in battle. And if I have to die to save you, then so be it," I said. Raditz looked back at me.

"C'mon. Vegeta wanted to talk to you," he said then, and walked out of the room. I silently stood and followed after him, and we walked in silence until we stopped in front of the Gravity Room. I knew that Vegeta nearly always trained, so he was in there. Raditz opened the door, and Vegeta was indeed in there. He smiled at me – it was not a warm smile – and I saw Hanasia, Fasha, Tora and the Z-Fighters all standing behind him. They were all worn, bruised and bloodied, but each of them looked happy with themselves.

"We need to discuss something," Vegeta said to me, and I nodded wordlessly. Vegeta sighed. "Bulma has been searching for any sign of the Marauders, and yesterday night, she found something: a black ship with blue fluorescent tubing on the sides. Do you know it?" Vegeta asked. I paled.

"Y-yeah… when are they gonna get here?" I asked, my throat suddenly parched and dry. Vegeta shrugged.

"Bulma wasn't able to discern that," he said simply. I groaned.

"That's not good enough… but I suppose she can't do much more," I said. The way I said it made sure that it didn't come off as mean, and Vegeta sighed.

"I know, but…" The Saiyan prince was cut off as an explosion wracked the building. Screams were heard, and we all stumbled and fell. I heard something crack, but thought nothing of it as I rose to my feet. I ran out of the Gravity Room along with the others, and I saw Bulma running down the hall, closely followed by Chi-Chi. "Sorry for this, Bulma," Vegeta suddenly said as he blew a hole in the wall, and we all ran out and looked up. High in the sky was a black battleship, and I could see huge pods being dropped onto various parts of the city.

"Shit! They're here!" Hanasia growled. I flew off suddenly, heading towards the largest cluster of the pods, and immediately tried to destroy them. But it was useless; the pods were made out of a material that just didn't seem normal. They opened then, and Marauder soldiers stepped out of them. I was their target almost as soon as they stepped out of the pods, but I was easily able to dodge most of their fire. One of their blasts struck my shoulder, and I cried out in pain as I flew out of their range. I collapsed and clutched the wound. When I took my hand away, I saw a slick red colour on my hand, and I growled as I jumped to my feet and tried to avoid the rest of the gunfire.

"Dad!" Kakarot cried as he fired a ki blast. I stumbled as an explosion flared up, and Kakarot caught me. My shoulder was in pain, and I grit my teeth. "Are you hurt?" he asked, his black eyes filled with concern.

"It's nothing that I can't handle," I said, even though pain was filling me. I looked behind me as I saw more Marauders marching towards us. "They don't give up," I mused as Kakarot and I turned and ran back to the rest of the group.

"Are you okay?" Raditz asked as we reached the group. I nodded, only to be punched in the face. "You idiot! Why the hell did you run off like that?" Raditz growled, and I shook my head.

"I didn't run, I flew; there's a difference," I said, sounding miffed. Raditz rolled his eyes but said nothing as he looked back at the prince. Vegeta shook his head.

"These Marauders aren't just in West City. They're everywhere, and they work quickly, it would seem," he said. My eyes widened, but it was Tora who spoke.

"What do you mean, sir?" he asked carefully. Vegeta explained the situation to us, and Tora and I looked at each other. He frowned. "What should we do, Bardock?" he asked.

"Well, we can't all stay here. We need to split up," I said.

"Not an option," Vegeta and Raditz said at the same time.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because we can't do anything about the others," Vegeta said simply.

"What the heck… ARGH!" I screamed as another gunshot struck me in the shoulder. I collapsed to the ground, clutching my shoulder tightly. I saw Raditz charge up an attack and send it towards the enemy, and I felt hands wrap around my torso.

"Get up, Bardock!" Hanasia screamed in my ear, but I could barely move. Agony was stopping my legs from moving, so Hanasia and Raditz ended up picking me up and flying away, everyone else in tow. Vegeta and Kakarot, however, went back to Capsule Corp. to get their wives. They joined us a few minutes later. "Where are we going?" Hanasia called as she looked over at Vegeta.

"Let's go to Kami's Lookout," Kakarot suggested. Vegeta nodded as Kakarot flew ahead of everyone, and Hanasia and Raditz followed, making sure not to let me fall.

When we got there, we were greeted with a very odd sight. It seemed to be a black genie! I frowned as I was set on my feet, but I instantly collapsed because of the pain my shoulder was in. Raditz caught me before I fell onto my face, and I was grateful to him.

"Oh my gods," a young Namekian said as he walked out and stared at me. Kakarot looked at the alien with pleading eyes. The Namek seemed to understand, and he walked over to me. "Can you please set him on the ground, Raditz?" he asked. Raditz nodded, and I realised that the two must have met during the seven months I'd been in isolation.

"Is he gonna be okay?" I heard Fasha asked as the Namek began to… heal me?

"Yes," he said.

"Thanks Dende," Kakarot said as my wound closed up, and my pain disappeared. I looked at my shoulder in surprise, and then turned to Dende.

"Wow. Thanks a bunch," I said. Dende nodded and looked back at everyone.

"Now, can someone tell me what the heck is going on?"


	14. Chapter 14

"I see," Dende murmured as Kakarot finished his explanation of the events that had occurred recently. Sighing, Dende looked down at the Earth. "This is serious."

"I'm sorry, Guardian of the Earth," I apologised quietly. Dende looked over at me and frowned.

"You can call me Dende, y'know," he said, then shook his head. "I don't think I know your names," he said to Fasha, Tora, Hanasia and me. I looked over at my sons, and they both nodded. Dende waited patiently as I frowned and looked down at my feet. Dende frowned. "Are you going to tell me?"

"I'm Hanasia, Raditz and Kakarot's mother," Hanasia said, stepping forward and taking my silence as an indication to speak. Dende turned to her as she pointed at me and said, "This is my mate, Bardock. And those two," she pointed over at Fasha and Tora, "Are Fasha and Tora, Bardock's closest friends and teammates." Dende nodded.

"Those Marauder things… They seem pretty serious, but there is a way to combat them?" Dende directed his words to me, in the form of a question, and I frowned and shook my head.

"All I can think of is brute… Uh…." I trailed off as I observed Trunks and Goten doing some sort of odd dance. I stared in complete and utter confusion. I looked back at Dende, my eyebrows furrowed. "Um… What are they doing?" I asked as I pointed the two boys out. Everyone looked over, and Kakarot smiled.

"It's called the Fusion Dance," he said. Tora interrupted him before he could say anything else, however.

"I've heard of that technique. It's a Metamorese technique," he said, looking over in my direction. I stared at him and asked what it was for. Tora smiled. "It's to combine two people and increase their power. Of course, there're a few disadvantages to the massive speed and strength gained from this." Shaking his head, Tora sighed and closed his eyes. "The fusion only lasts for half an hour, sometimes less."

"It seems like a risky technique," I mused.

"Yeah, but the power is usually enough to defeat most enemies before the time limit is up," Vegeta said, and I looked over at him. It seemed to me like he was speaking from experience.

"Your Highness, what do you mean?" I asked. Vegeta gave me a sharp look – he'd seemingly forsaken being titled as a prince – but said nothing on that topic. Instead, he walked over to the two boys and spoke quietly to them. Whatever he said made them pout, but they didn't argue as they walked over, following Vegeta. "Sir…" I trailed off and bit my lip sharply, drawing a small amount of blood. It trickled down my chin, and didn't go unnoticed by my two children, who said nothing.

"I suggest that we form a plan," the black genie from earlier said, and I looked over at him. A shiver washed through me, and the thought 'rapist' spun around and around in my head. But I shook it off and nodded, but I saw Raditz frown, almost as if he didn't understand.

"How? We have little to go off," Gohan said, and I frowned as I realised that he was correct.

Suddenly pain shot through my mind, and I touched my temple tenderly. The pain was a throbbing sort of thing, and it didn't feel quite normal. This had never happened before. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I looked over to see Hanasia standing beside me, her hand on my shoulder. Fasha and Tora looked worried about me, and Raditz and Kakarot looked at each other in curiousity.

"You okay?" Hanasia whispered to me. I nodded and rubbed my temple a bit.

"Yeah. Just a bit of… Urk…," I grunted as I collapsed to the ground as the pain got worse.

_Bardock… you should know that you cannot escape,_ I heard Toolo whisper in my head. I growled. What the heck was he doing to me? He didn't need to do this, did he?

"Dad?" Raditz hesitantly asked as he walked over and squatted next to me. I looked up at him and smiled as much as I could, trying to silently tell him not to worry, but the pain took over me then and I fell into the deep, black abyss of unconsciousness.


	15. Chapter 15

I awoke in a strange place, unrecognisable to my eyes. It was a rather lavish room, one that didn't seem to suit the planet I was on.

"Dad, you're okay!" I heard Raditz say from next to me, and I turned my head to see him sitting next to me. His lip was bleeding – he must have bitten it while waiting for me to wake – and he looked like he'd taken his frustrations out on a nearby pot. I smiled, nodded and tried to sit up. "No, Dad, don't. You're hurt," he murmured, standing and striding over to me, putting his hand on my shoulder and pushing me back down.

"Have the… Marauders found us?" I gasped. It seemed like it was very hard to speak. My throat was dry and I really needed a drink. Raditz shook his head, and relief coursed through me… until I realised that Raditz was hiding something. "Raditz, what _aren't_ you telling me?" I gasped. Raditz turned his head and refused to look at me. "Please tell me," I begged.

"They went down there. Kakarot and Vegeta. Y'know, to stop the Marauders," Raditz murmured. My eyes widened.

"And Fasha? Tora? Your mother? The others?" I begged. Raditz shook his head.

"All still here, save for Gohan. He won't let the two little ones fight," Raditz murmured. I sighed and clutched my blankets tightly, scrunching them up into my fists. Raditz took notice of my movement and placed his hand on mine. "Dad, relax. It'll be okay," he murmured, but said nothing else as the door creaked open. I saw Goten and Trunks poke their little heads in the door.

"C-can we come in, Uncle Raditz?" Goten asked nervously. Raditz smiled at them as he helped me to sit up.

"Of course," he said politely. The two boys came in and walked over.

"Are you feeling okay, Grandpa?" Goten asked me. He was adorable, I'd give him that. I nodded and stretched a bit, and then rubbed my temple. The pain was gone, at least, but my action – for some bizarre reason – made Raditz think that I was still in pain.

"Dad? You sure you're okay?" he whispered.

"Hm?" I said, removing my hand from my temple. I smiled. "Yes. I'm fine. It's okay," I said. Raditz frowned and looked down at the two little boys, who were tugging on his long hair.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Dad and Goku are back," Trunks said. Goten looked miserable, and Trunks sighed. "Gohan hasn't returned, so Chi-Chi's not happy," he said. I frowned and shook my head. Chi-Chi. My younger son's crazy wife. I feared her even more than I feared my wife… and Hanasia was a Saiyan, compared to the human Chi-Chi.

"Can you go and get Kakarot? He was pretty worried for Dad's health," Raditz said, and Goten and Trunks nodded before running out of the room. Raditz sighed as he noticed that I was now trying to stand up. "Hey, wait a second! You can't do that!"

"I can do whatever the fuck I want, Raditz," I growled, not liking the tone in my son's voice even thought I knew that he was correct. Raditz sighed and relented. Instead of forcing me back to bed, like he'd been doing a few minutes ago, he instead tried to help me up and supported me as I struggled to walk outside… only for the door to swing open, just as Raditz and I walked over, and slam me in the face. "OUCH!" I cried as I was knocked onto my tail, crushing it.

"Oops," Kakarot said as he peeked out from behind the door. I grimaced up at him and stood again, using Raditz to pull myself back onto my feet. "Sorry Daddy, didn't mean to hurt you."

"Why do you call me that?" I asked as Kakarot supported me along with Raditz and helped me to walk out. Kakarot shrugged but said nothing as we walked out. I saw everyone gathered there, including a sad-looking Chi-Chi. I saw Hanasia comforting her daughter-in-law. Maybe she felt the same way… but, then again, Hanasia had always done a good job on hiding her maternal instincts. She'd not really shown much sympathy when she'd abandoned her son and left him in my care, and she'd shown no sympathy when Kakarot had been sent away either. But it could have been just a ruse.

"Are you well, Bardock?" Dende asked as he walked over to me. I nodded.

"Yeah… I'm just a bit shaky on my feet, that's all. What happened after I fell unconscious?" I asked. Dende looked away from me and down at the planet that he watched over diligently. I frowned. Had the Marauder problem gotten worse? "Dende, the whole reason the Marauders are here is because of me. I deserve to know if they did anything to the planet," I hissed.

"Bardock, you must take heed. The Marauders… they're almost impossible to defeat," Vegeta said before Dende could say a word. I looked over at the Saiyan prince, curious as to what he meant by that. Vegeta shook his head and sighed as he looked up into the sky. "There's only one way I can see them leaving, but…" Vegeta shook his head and stopped speaking.

"Vegeta, there has to be another way," Bulma whispered as she walked over and touched his arm gently. Vegeta shook his head.

"No, there is no other way, Bulma," he said. "If there was, I wouldn't be suggesting this now."

"But does it really demand that Dad…," Kakarot whispered, and I looked over at him.

"If this is referring to me dying for the sake of this planet, then I'm more than willing to pay the price for my stupidity," I said, my words sounding harsh and unlike me. Everyone turned to look at me, their eyes telling me what no words could. They questioned my choice. Even Tora, my best friend and the one person whom I trusted with everything, looked horror-struck.

"Dad…"

"Bardock…"

"Don't try to tell me that there is some other way. There's no other way. I've realised that," I murmured. I shook my head and looked down at my feet. My boots were gone, I saw, but I didn't care. "I'll die to protect my family and friends," I said boldly.

"There may be no need for you to die, Grandpa," a voice said, and we all turned to find Gohan standing there. He was bruised and covered in cuts, but otherwise alive. We all were happy to see him alive, but his words struck me as odd. What the heck did he mean?

"Gohan, what does that even mean?" Piccolo asked, walking over to his student and frowning down at the half-Saiyan. Gohan grinned.

"I've figured it all out," Gohan said as he held up a scroll. I frowned as he handed it to me, but took it and unrolled it, only to find that the Marauders had written down their entire plan for the mission, from start to finish. "If we could somehow prevent one of these events from happening, the whole plan of theirs will be botched!" Gohan said, and for a minute I was happy. But then my smile fell.

"It still won't be enough," I muttered.

"What do you mean?" Kakarot asked. I looked at the plans still in my hand, my eyes blank as I saw what only I could see.

"I'm still going to die," I whispered as I watched.

My time was almost up.


	16. Chapter 16

We stood in one line, waiting semi-patiently. The Marauders marched towards us, determined to take our lives. I sighed as I squeezed Hanasia's hand gently. She'd been none too happy about the fact that I already knew how and when I was going to die, but I'd told her that I would accept it, so she'd let it go.

"It's time," Tora murmured as they took aim at us. I nodded as we all prepared to fight back. Bulma and Chi-Chi had stayed up at Dende's Lookout, but they were thinking of us. Kakarot, Vegeta and Raditz looked calm, but I could tell that Raditz and Kakarot were sad that I had to die.

"Go!" Vegeta and Kakarot yelled as one as they both initiated their Super Saiyan transformations and rushed forward. Raditz did the same, as did I, and we spread out to the sides. The others did whatever they could to aid us as we started to take out the Marauders. I could see Gren behind them all, and I knew that as soon as I got to him, my time would start to slip away from me.

A Marauder launched itself at me from my left, and I swung around to deal with my opponent. I was shocked to see that it was a Councilmember. Her black hair was cropped short, and her golden eyes were bright and vibrant. Her black tattoo marked her, and the tattoo seemed to burn into my mind.

"You're Son Bardock, the one who killed Princess Violetta, aren't you?" she growled as she swung her fist at me. I dodged and tried to kick her away from me, but she caught my foot and swung me onto the ground. I grunted as I slammed into the hard concrete, the ground cracking beneath the force of the blow. "You will die for your insolence!" she growled as she threw me into a nearby tree.

"I'm not going to die at your hands," I said calmly, confidently… which only managed to piss her off more.

"You dare speak in such a way to me, Magentina?!" the councilwoman – Magentina – screeched as she jumped for me. I was sick of this woman already, so I sighed as I stood and slammed my fist into her face. She was unguarded, so my fist made contact almost immediately with her face. There was a crunching sound, and blood splashed out of her nose as she collapsed to the ground. I looked down at her with an unimpressed expression on my face.

"Yeah, I do," I said as I pointed the palm of my hand at her and charged an energy blast up. Magentina looked up at me in fear, but there was nothing to change my mind. I blasted her and flew off, leaving her charred body for the Marauders to find. "I have to find my kids," I muttered to myself as I flew through the ranks of Marauder soldiers, bludgeoning my way through them all. It was just like the day where Frieza had destroyed our home planet. I'd done the same thing, beating and fighting my way throughout his forces… only to be ultimately defeated at the hands of Frieza himself.

_Shit, this is bad,_ I thought to myself as I flew into the air and looked down at the ground. My eyes widened. I'd seen this before, in a vision…

The Marauders marched through the cities of Earth, evil smiles on their faces, their eyes twinkling with gleeful malice, as they destroyed the numerous buildings. People screamed as they tried to run, but Marauders killed them slowly, painfully.

Then I saw Raditz and Kakarot, standing beside their prince – no, our prince – as the last barricade of defence for the Earthlings. As one, the three full-blooded Saiyans jumped forward. Their hair lit up with a glorious golden glow. One of the Marauders looked up as he was socked in the chin by my angry, long-haired son, and I felt a pang of glee as I saw the soldier's neck snap.

"Kakarot, Raditz, we can't keep doing this! They just keep coming!" Vegeta cried as he fended off at least ten Marauders. I realised then that the Marauders, while weak individually, could definitely give a Super Saiyan problems, especially in such a large group.

"Yeah… ARGH!" Raditz screamed as one of the Marauders stabbed him in the arm with a blade. I panicked as Raditz clutched his arm, but he didn't try to fight back. I knew Raditz was smarter than that. He proved it to me then as he fell back until he was with the Z-Fighters again. His long black hair was even more of a mess than it usually was, and I could see that there was a large cut running down his arm.

"We can't keep fighting like this…," Kakarot gasped as he punched one Marauder in the stomach and kicked another in the head. He jumped backwards, so that he was back-to-back with Raditz. I saw Vegeta blast one of the Marauders, but the ki harmlessly bounced off of the soldier's black armour and flew right towards me. I quickly deflected it and flew down to them.

"Bardock!" Vegeta exclaimed, quite shocked to see me standing there. I nodded at him and slammed my fist into the sternum of one of the soldiers. "What's the situation from the sky?!" Vegeta asked me as he prepared to fire another ki blast. I stopped him.

"Don't waste your ki. It only works on the unarmoured ones, the Council members," I said. I shook my head. "Where are the others?" I asked. Raditz shook his head.

"I don't know. Hey, Kakarot, have you seen the others?" Raditz asked as we flew into the sky, avoiding enemy fire. Kakarot shook his head, and Raditz asked the same question of Vegeta, who shook his head as well. Raditz looked over at me and shrugged, and I nodded, understanding that he didn't know.

"We better find them then," I muttered as we flew off towards an area that had a huge battle occurring in it. I saw Gohan protecting an injured Piccolo, and a purple-and-black haired boy holding off a bunch of Marauders. "There!" I yelled, and Vegeta steeply dived and kicked a Marauder in the head, flinging him away from the clearly exhausted Gohan.

"Are you alright?" Kakarot asked as I saw Fasha, Tora and Hanasia land, followed by the rest of the Z-Fighters. Everyone nodded, and Krillin stepped forward.

"Goku, there has to be a way to beat these guys," he muttered. Kakarot looked sadly down at his best friend, and then over to me.

"Dad…"

"I have to get close to Gren… and I think he went back up to the ship," I muttered. Hanasia looked upset about my casual admission of my own death, but I simply smiled at her.

"Bardock, do you really have to?" Hanasia asked me as she walked over and touched my shoulder. I nodded, and she looked down at the ground. "Why?"

"Because this whole thing is my fault. I have to pay for it somehow," I murmured. Hanasia looked very upset, but I didn't try to comfort her. Instead, I removed her hand from my shoulder and pushed her away a bit. "Hanasia, I'm sorry," I muttered. Suddenly, gunshots were fired, and one of the energy bolts struck Hanasia's shoulder. She cried out and collapsed to the ground. I looked around but didn't see anything. Raditz grabbed his mother around the waist and flew out of the way of any more energy blasts, and we all followed suit. Well, most of us did. The Marauder ship had become visible again. I could sense it, but I couldn't see it.

Guilt coursed through me. This was my fault. This destruction.

Earth… I looked around, only to see the Marauder ship in the sky. I hissed, and then I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around to see Raditz standing there. Blood was welling from a deep cut over his left eye, and I frowned.

"Father, why are you here? Mother's hurt, remember?" he said. Confusion bloomed in my heart (shouldn't she have been treated immediately?), but I didn't voice it. Instead, I said something different.

"Yes. I know. But… but I have to do this," I said. Raditz frowned at me, and I saw tears begin to well up in his eyes as Kakarot ran over.

"No… You don't have to, Dad," Kakarot sobbed as he hugged me. I was taken aback by the hug, but my arms wrapped around him without me telling them. It was as if I was only in control of my emotions… and not of my body or speech.

"Yes I do. These people… they're going to kill you. But if I die… hopefully that's compensation for killing their princess." I smiled at my two sons, my mind continually screaming at me, to stop and rethink what I was about to do.

"Dad…" Raditz looked at me sadly. "Goodbye," he whispered as he pulled me into a hug. The three of us stood there like that for a while before Raditz let me go and pulled Kakarot off. "C'mon, Kakarot, we have to go," he said as he dragged Kakarot away. I looked sadly after my sons, and then a mask of determination fell on my face as I looked up at the Marauder ship.

"This is the end," I breathed to myself as I flew towards the ship. More and more soldiers came to attack me, but I pushed and fought my way through them and eventually got onto the ship. I ran through the dark corridors, killing or knocking out all those I came across… until I came across Gren. He was waiting for me, sitting casually as if we were old friends that hadn't seen each other for a long time. He looked up at me, his yellow eyes gleaming.

"Hello again, Bardock," he said calmly, nicely. Then his eyes went dark and his smile turned into an ugly grimace. "You shouldn't have tried to fight us. Now, you die," he whispered. I smiled.

"I knew I was going to die the moment I came here."


	17. Chapter 17

Gren and I jumped back from each other after exchanging blows. Both of us were bruised and bloody, but there was absolutely no way that I was giving up. I knew that I was going to be killed, so what did it matter? I would fit until I was no longer breathing.

"How… can you… hope to defeat me?" Gren gasped as I dashed towards him and kicked him in the stomach. He gasped as blood splashed from his mouth and onto my face. I wiped it off with my thumb and looked down at it. I grimaced and looked up just as Gren smashed his knuckles into my chin. I gurgled as I flew into the wall and collapsed onto the ground.

"I… have to… defeat you… to save my family," I gasped. Gren looked sadistically down at me, and I smiled. My teeth were red with my own blood, and blood dripped down my chin, but it wasn't bothering me. "Even if… it means that… we both die here!" I yelled as I used my ki to push myself forward. I charged up my Riot Javelin and prepared to throw it. I saw Gren charge up an energy sphere and get ready to throw it towards me.

"Prepare to die!" Gren hissed as we both threw our attacks. They collided and exploded on impact. The shock wave blew me backwards into the wall, and I cried out as pain shot through my back. I saw Gren slam into a pillar and crumple to the ground. I gasped for breath, each intake of air paining me, and I saw that Gren was trying desperately to do the same. We both struggled to our feet and stared at each other. I clutched my side tightly, feeling blood underneath my clothes. "That… was…," Gren gasped as he fell to his knees. I could see droplets of sweat dripping from his purple skin.

"I told you," I snarled as I charged up another Riot Javelin, "I have to defeat you. Even if it means we both die!" I started super-powering my Riot Javelin, which would begin turning it into the Final Riot Javelin.

"What the heck will you gain from it?!" Gren roared as he suddenly made a blade materialise.

"Nothing! But… the rest of the universe will!" I screamed as I initiated my Super Saiyan transformation and continued to power up my Riot Javelin. Gren's eyes widened as he ran for me, and I propelled myself forward with what remained of my ki. I threw the Final Riot Javelin towards Gren and then jumped backwards. The ki ball smashed into Gren and exploded. Gren screamed in agony and dropped to the ground, his blade clattering to the floor beside him. I walked over and scowled down at him. This battle wasn't over yet. I could feel it in my heart.

I was right.

With lightning fast speed, Gren wrapped his hand around the hilt of his blade, picked it up, and stabbed me through my armour and abdomen. I coughed blood onto Gren's face, and he smiled as the scarlet drops landed on his cheeks.

"This is where it ends!" Gren hissed, and then laughed psychopathically. I looked up at him with a pained smile on my face.

"Oh… yeah?" I coughed as I grabbed the hilt of the sword (Gren had made the stupid mistake of letting it go) and pulled it out. Blood poured out of the wound, and I quickly flipped the blade around and stabbed Gren through the chest, hitting a vital point. Gren's yellow eyes glazed over as he looked down at the blade sticking through his torso. I smiled at him as I let go of the hilt and pushed Gren's shoulder. He collapsed to the ground, his head rolling lazily and his body limp.

It was over. Gren was dead.

Outside, I could hear the screams of the Marauders. I wondered why they were screaming. Maybe they'd always been linked to Gren. I collapsed to my knees and then fell on my side. Blood was gushing from my wound, and I looked down at it. Logically, I should have stopped the bleeding, but I knew that it was pointless. Still, that didn't stop me from trying. I pulled my headband from my head and pressed it to the wound, but it didn't help. The flow of blood wouldn't stop.

"Dad!" I heard someone scream, and I looked up to see Raditz running over to me, Kakarot in tow. He fell to his knees beside me, and Kakarot did too.

"Hey kids… what happened out there?" I coughed as everyone else ran in. Kakarot ripped off a segment of his orange over-shirt and tried to stem the blood flow from my wound, but it was pointless.

"Dad, you're pale and cold… You need to save your strength," Raditz said, trying to change the subject. I coughed again and coldly looked at my oldest son. He sighed. "They all just…died. It was like they were connected to the leader, like a hive mind," he said. Hanasia walked over and sat next to my head. I could see that her shoulder was bandaged, and tears were dripping from her eyes. I wiped them off gently with my thumb.

"It's not working," I heard Kakarot whisper.

"Don't… worry… about it," I gasped as I tried to sit up.

"Grandpa, don't move!" Goten and Gohan said as one, but I ignored them as I managed to sit up. I clutched my abdomen and grimaced as pain shot through me.

"I… knew… that I was gonna… die here…," I gasped as I collapsed back onto the ground. Hanasia caught my head before I cracked the back of my skull on the cold, hard ground. "You… all knew… I told… you all… before…" I swallowed the blood that was pooling in my mouth as I tried to speak, but it didn't help.

"Stop saying that," Vegeta hissed as he began to assist Kakarot in stemming the blood flow in my wound. I feebly tried to stop them, but my arms were beginning to become numb and cold, as were my legs. "Bardock, you can't die!" he hissed angrily, clearly frustrated that he wasn't able to help me. "We won't allow it!"

"You can't change my fate," I suddenly whispered as the pain in my torso stopped, my abdomen becoming numb. I smiled up at everyone as they looked down at me, horrified that I would say something like that. "The future isn't set in stone, but… the future… is one that… doesn't have me in it," I gasped as I began to feel my heart slowing.

"Dad, stop… stop saying that!" Raditz cried as he slammed his fist into the ground next to my head.

"Bardock, please try to stay alive," Hanasia whispered.

"Don't die…," Tora whispered, and I saw Fasha start crying. She buried her head in her hands and Tora pulled her into a hug.

"Why?" Piccolo whispered as I started to choke on my blood.

"Why is the world so cruel?" Gohan whispered.

"Cruel? What… do you mean?" I whispered as Hanasia pulled my cold, dying body onto her lap and stroked my cheek. My Super Saiyan transformation had long since dissipated, and my black eyes were beginning to glaze over. "The world isn't cruel to a Saiyan. This… I deserve this," I gasped.

"Grandpa, you can't mean that," Gohan growled.

"If you had done what we have, Gohan, you'd understand what Dad's on about," Raditz said sadly. I smiled up at him as my vision started to fade. Darkness began to envelop me, and I looked over at everyone.

"Thank you…," I whispered as I closed my eyes. Feeling left me then, and the darkness swallowed me up, never to give me back up again…


	18. Epilogue

_It's not so bad here, to be honest,_ I thought to myself as I lay underneath a tree in Hell. There was a reed in my mouth, and my hands were behind my head. _I'd prefer this place to Heaven, at least,_ I thought as I looked over at the area where the Saiyans lived. I could see Broly tormenting Tullece, and it made me smile. Stuff like that didn't seem to happen in Heaven.

I sighed as I sat up and crawled over to the crystal ball in my possession. It was always trained on the Earthlings now, and I saw something truly remarkable. There was a wedding going on, and I could see that it was between Fasha and Tora of all people!

_They must be happy,_ I thought and smiled. I'd always guessed that there was something going on between those two, and I was secretly gleeful that I'd been right. But then I sighed. How long had it been? It seemed like at least twenty years here in Hell, but… but I knew that it wasn't so on Earth, back in the living realm. At the very most, it had been two years. _Hanasia… I'm sorry I can't be there with you._

_"Do you think Dad's watching?"_ Raditz asked, and I looked at the crystal ball to see him – in a suit! – sitting with Hanasia, Kakarot, and the others. He was holding what looked to be a beer in his hand, and I could see that he was holding a scrap of paper in his other hand.

_"Of course he is, Raditz,"_ Tora mused as he wrapped his arms around his newly-wed bride. Fasha smiled as she looked up to the sky, and I smiled as I saw tears dripping down her cheeks.

"Don't cry, Fasha," I whispered, even though she couldn't hear me. "Be happy, it's your wedding!" I sobbed with a smile. Then my face fell. Hanasia and I had never been officially married, but we'd always told our son that we had been. That'd not gone too well, but he'd never really questioned it.

_"I miss him, and even though it's only been two years… I wanna see him again soon,"_ Kakarot whispered. I smiled as I wiped my eyes.

_"And it's impossible to bring him back, isn't it?"_ Gohan said suddenly. Raditz and Kakarot shared a look, frowning. But it was Vegeta who spoke.

_"We have no idea of knowing who – or what – brought him back the first time,"_ he mused, and everyone sighed as they nodded. I noticed that Hanasia had been silent, and was sitting a fair distance away from everyone else. I looked at her through the crystal ball. She looked pale and unwell. _"How's Hanasia doing, Bulma?"_ Vegeta asked his wife softly. Everyone looked over at her, and I saw her Saiyan eyes were not unlike black stones, except they were much more lifeless.

_"She's still not recovered. Losing her husband like she did…"_ Bulma trailed off, and I began to feel guilty. Because of my death, my wife was ill. And there was nothing I could do about it, either.

_"She's that sick?"_ Raditz whispered.

_"Yeah, she is. Soon we'll have to admit her to the hospital… If she allows us to."_ Chi-Chi shook her head as she spoke. I knew that Hanasia was far too proud. She would either die fighting or die without having her life prolonged by machinery. That was just Hanasia's way.

_"You don't need to do that, y'know,"_ Hanasia murmured then. _"I… want to be with him again. I don't wanna wait to go back to him."_ There was no question that the man in question was me. I sighed and looked up into the skies of Hell.

Hell wasn't so bad after all, if Hanasia wanted to join me.

Maybe I could wait a little bit longer until she joined me here eternally.

Maybe.


End file.
